Influenza A and Sendai viruses preferentially bind to fucosylated gangliosides with linear poly-N-acetyllactosaminyl chains from human granulocytes.

Influenza A and Sendai viruses are known to bind to various extent to neolacto-series gangliosides IV3Neu5Ac-nLcOse4Cer, IV6Neu5Ac-nLcOse4Cer, and VI3Neu5Ac-nLcOse6Cer, which are the dominant gangliosides of human granulocytes. Recently, minor gangliosides of granulocytes were characterized and found to express sialyl Lewis(x) and VIM-2 epitopes. These long chain linear monosialogangliosides with nLcOse8, and nLcOse10, cores, carrying one to three fucoses, are shown in this study to bind with strong avidity to influenza A/PR/8/34 (H1N1), A/X-31 (H3N2), and Sendai virus (Z-strain) using the overlay technique. These and recent data from other groups imply that selectins and virus hemagglutinins are capable of competing with lipid bound sialyl Lewis(x) and VIM-2 epitopes on myeloid cells during inflammatory reactions.