Human influenza virus recognition of sialyloligosaccharides.

Sialic acids are essential components of cell-surface receptors utilized by influenza viruses. To evaluate the recognition of asialic sugar parts of the receptor, three representative strains of human influenza A and B viruses were tested for their binding of a panel of sialyloligosaccharides. The highest affinity binding carbohydrate determinants recognized by the viruses in a context of different core structures were Neu5Ac alpha 2-3Gal for the type B virus, Neu5Ac alpha 2-6 Gal for the H3 subtype virus, and Neu5Ac alpha 2-6Gal beta 1-4GlcNAc for the H1 subtype virus. Penultimate to these determinants parts of the sialyloligosaccharides studied either contributed less significantly to the binding affinity, or interfered with the binding.