Effects of host-dependent glycosylation of hemagglutinin on receptor-binding properties on H1N1 human influenza A virus grown in MDCK cells and in embryonated eggs

There is growing evidence that the receptor-binding characteristics of influenza viruses are affected by the host-dependent glycosylation of viral hemagglutinin (HA). To better understand these effects, we propagated two variants of the human influenza virus USSR/90/77 (which differed by the mutation Asn131 reversible Asp131 in the glycosylation sequon of their HA) in either embryonated chicken eggs or MDCK cell. Those variants were then compared for their ability to bind soluble receptor analogs and to attach to receptors represented on a solid phase. The carbohydrate chain at position 131 of the HA (CHO 131) interfered with virus binding to soluble Sia2-6Gal-containing macromolecular receptors, but had little or no effect on its binding to Sia2-3Gal-containing macromolecules. This specificity could be explained by the different orientation of the asialic parts of the 2-3-linked sialosides versus 2-6-linked sialosides with respect to the receptor-binding site (Eisen et al., 1997, Virology 232, 19-31). In the case of virus attachment to solid-phase immobilized receptors, MDCK-grown viruses bound substantially more weakly than their egg-grown counterparts to receptors of avian origin, whereas binding to mammalian cell membranes was only marginally affected by differences in host-specific glycosylation of the virus. Our data indicated that the effects of the carbohydrate side chain of HA on virus receptor-binding activity are dependent on both the cells in which the virus was grown and the nature of the cellular receptors or intercellular inhibitors to which the virus binds.

Differences in the biological phenotype of low-yielding (L) and high-yielding (H) variants of swine influenza virus A/NJ/11/76 are associated with their different receptor-binding activity

Low- (L) and high-yielding (H) variants of A/sw/NJ/11/76 influenza virus were compared for their growth properties in embryonated chicken eggs and MDCK cells and for their binding affinity for the membrane fractions prepared from cells of the chicken embryo allantoic membrane. MDCK, and swine tracheal cells, as well as for soluble sialic acid containing macromolecules and monovalent sialosides. We have shown, that during infection in MDCK cells and in eggs, the progeny of the L variant remain predominantly cell associated, in contrast to those of H. As a result, accumulation of the L mutant in allantoic or culture fluid is significantly slowed in comparison with the H variant. Visualization of the infectious foci formed by the viruses in MDCK cell monolayers and on the allantoic membrane revealed that L spreads predominantly from cell to cell, while the spread of H involves release of the virus progeny into solution and its rapid distribution over the cell monolayer via convectional flow of the liquid. In the binding assays, L displayed significantly higher binding affinity than H for cellular membranes, gangliosides, and sialylglycoproteins, however, the affinity of the variants for the monovalent sialic acid compounds was comparable. Unlike H. L bound strongly to dextran sulfate. The data obtained suggest that all distinctions of the L and H biological phenotypes reported previously [Kilbourne, E.D., Taylor, A. H. Whitaker, C.W., Sahai, R., and Caton, A (1988) Hemagglutinin polymorphism as the basis for low-and high-yield phenotypes of swine influenza virus. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85, 7782-7785] could be rationally explained by a more avid binding of the L variant to the surface of target cells, and that this effect is mainly due to enhanced electrostatic interactions.

Adaptation of egg-grown and transfectant influenza viruses for growth in mammalian cells: selection of hemagglutinin mutants with elevated pH of membrane fusion

A series of eight transfectant influenza viruses was generated by reverse genetics for studies of the palmitylated cysteine residues in the cytoplasmic tail of the hemagglutinin glycoprotein (HA). Following amplification of these viruses in MDCK cells we found that all had developed an elevated pH of membrane fusion--an unexpected result since previous mutant HA expression studies had shown that substitutions of the cysteine residues had no effect on fusion properties. Sequence analyses revealed that each of the viruses had at least one additional mutation in the ectodomain of HA which was responsible for the increase in fusion pH. Similarly, when we passaged egg-grown wild-type X-31 virus in three different lines of MDCK cells or in MDBK cells, high pH fusion mutants were selected within a few passages in every case. The locations of the substitutions in the HA structure are in or near the "fusion peptide" or at subunit interfaces throughout the length of the trimer--reminiscent of the changes selected in earlier studies on amantadine resistance. The observation that passage of certain viruses in mammalian cells can result in the selection of mutants with elevated fusion pH has potential implications both for reverse genetic experiments and, perhaps more importantly, for the choice of substrates for propagation of vaccine viruses.

Avian influenza A viruses differ from human viruses by recognition of sialyloligosaccharides and gangliosides and by a higher conservation of the HA receptor-binding site

Avian influenza virus strains representing most hemagglutinin (HA) subtypes were compared with human influenza A (H1N1,H3N2) and B virus isolates, including those with no history of passaging in embryonated hen's eggs, for their ability to bind free N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) and sialylollgosaccharides in a competitive binding assay and to attach to gangliosides in a solid-phase adsorption assay. The avian viruses, irrespective of their HA subtype, showed a higher affinity for sialyl-3-lactose and the other Neu5Ac2-3Gal-terminated oligosaccharides and a lower affinity for sialyl-6-lactose than for free Neu5Ac, indicative of specific interactions between the HA and the 3-linked Gal and poor accommodation of 6-linked Gal in the avian receptor-binding site (RBS). Human H1 and H3 strains, by contrast, were unable to bind to 3-linked Gal, interacting instead with the asialic portion of sialyl-6-(N-acetyllactosamine). Different parts of this moiety were recognized by H3 and H1 subtype viruses (Gal and GlcNAc, respectively). Comparison of the HA amino acid sequences revealed that residues in positions. 138, 190, 194, 225, 226, and 228 are conserved in the avian RBS, while the human HAs harbor substitutions at these positions. A characteristic feature of avian viruses was their binding to Neu5Ac2-3Gal-containing gangliosides. This property of avian precursor viruses was preserved in early human H3 isolates, but was gradually lost with further circulation of the H3 HA in humans. Consequently, later human H3 isolates, as well as H1 and type B human strains, were unable to bind to short Neu5Ac2-3Gal-terminated gangliosides, an incompatibility that correlated with higher glycosylation of the HA globular head of human viruses. Our results suggest that the RBS is highly conserved among HA subtypes of avian influenza virus, while that of human viruses displays distinctive genotypic and phenotypic variability.

Specification of receptor-binding phenotypes of influenza virus isolates from different hosts using synthetic sialylglycopolymers: non-egg-adapted human H1 and H3 influenza A and influenza B viruses share a common high binding affinity for 6'-sialyl(N-acetyllactosamine)

Synthetic sialylglycoconjugates bearing 3'-sialyllactose, 6'-sialyllactose, or 6'-sialyl(N-acetyllactosamine) moieties attached to the polyacrylic acid carrier (P-3-SL, P-6-SL, and P-6-SLN, respectively) were prepared and tested for their ability to bind to influenza virus isolates from different hosts in a competitive solid phase assay. The virus panel included egg-grown avian and porcine strains, as well as human viruses isolated and propagated solely in mammalian (MDCK) cells and their egg-adapted variants. A clear correlation was observed between the pattern of virus binding of two glycopolymers, P-3-SL and P-6-SLN, and the host species from which the virus was derived. Avian isolates displayed a high binding affinity for P-3-SL and a two to three orders of magnitude lower affinity for P-6-SLN. By contrast, all non-egg-adapted human A and B viruses bound P-6-SLN strongly but did not bind P-3-SL. Unlike the "authentic" human strains, their egg-adapted counterparts acquired an ability to bind P-3-SL, indicative of a shift in the receptor-binding phenotype toward the recognition of Neu5Ac2-3Gal-terminated sugar sequences. Among the porcine viruses and human isolates with porcine hemagglutinin, few displayed an avian-like binding phenotype, while others differed from both avian and human strains by a reduced ability to discriminate between P-3-SL and P-6-SLN. Our data show that sialylglycopolymers may become a useful tool in studies on molecular mechanisms of interspecies transfer, tissue specificity, and other structure-function relationships of the influenza virus hemagglutinin.

Factors affecting the yield of cold-adapted influenza virus vaccine

Various manipulations to production procedures have been investigated in order to discover methods to attain adequate or augmented titers of cold-adapted influenza virus (CAIV) vaccine. The methods modified include those used for reassortant selection and the determination of virus growth parameters. Increased infectivity titers were achieved through selection of high-yielding mutants by isolating multiple plaques during plaque purification of reassortant clones, as well as through optimization of egg incubation times, age, and lot for individual strains. Up to 6-fold increases in virus yield were obtained by selecting high yielding mutants, up to 9-fold increases were achieved by modifying egg incubation times, and a nearly 1 log increase was realized by determining the ideal egg age for individual strains.

Antigenic and genetic analysis of equine influenza viruses from tropical Africa in 1991

A detailed analysis of equine (H3N8) influenza viruses isolated in Nigeria during early 1991 has been undertaken. Antigenic analysis and the complete nucleotide sequence of the HA gene of three Nigerian equine influenza viruses A/eq/Ibadan/4/91, A/eq/Ibadan/6/91 and A/eq/Ibadan/9/91 are presented and limited sequence analysis of each of the genes encoding the internal polypeptides of the virus has been carried out. These results establish that, despite the geographical location from which these viruses were isolated, two were similar to the viruses which were concurrently causing disease in Europe in 1989 and 1991 and were related to viruses that have been predominating in horses since 1985. The third was more closely related to viruses isolated from 1991 onward in Europe but also in other parts of the globe. A comparison of the nucleotide sequence of two of the viruses isolated in Nigeria (A/eq/Ibadan/4/91 and A/eq/Ibadan/6/91) with a European strain (A/eq/Suffolk/89) showed limited variation in the haemagglutinin gene which caused amino acid substitutions in one of the antigenic sites: this mutation resulted in the potential production of a new glycosylation site in antigenic site A. The other Nigerian virus (A/eq/Ibadan/9/91) showed only a single one amino acid change from another European strain (A/eq/Arundel/12369/91). The two distinct Nigerian viruses had several amino acid substitutions in the antigenic sites of the haemagglutinin glycoprotein.

HA1 domain of influenza A (H3N2) viruses in Finland in 1989-1995: evolution, egg-adaptation and relationship to vaccine strains

The HA1 gene sequences of 22 MDCK cell-derived influenza A (H3N2) strains, ten of their egg-derived counterparts and three vaccine strains were determined. Antigenic and sequence differences between the epidemic and vaccine strains were recorded, most striking in 1992/93; a minority of the amino acid differences in 1989-95 was involved in egg-adaptation. Changes in the assortment of amino acid substitutions produced during egg-adaptation of field strains may account for the difficulty encountered in isolating these viruses in embryonated eggs. Six revertant amino acids, characteristic of field strains prevalent in 1969-71 were recorded in 1994/95. Their genome sequence was interpreted to have been maintained over the interval years among low abundant sequences of the viral quasispecies. Potential changes of carbohydrate moieties were recorded in two glycosylation sites, suggesting that oligosaccharides at these sites are not necessarily advantageous for the H3N2 subtype virus currently.

Replicative advantage in tissue culture of egg-adapted influenza virus over tissue-culture derived virus: implications for vaccine manufacture

Influenza virus derived from clinical material on MDCK cells has been shown to possess haemagglutinin (HA) indistinguishable from that of the natural, uncultivated virus. In contrast, viurs derived in embryonated hens' eggs are variants with substitutions in their HA in the vicinity of the receptor binding site. We report here the superior growth of egg-adapted virus over cell-derived virus on MDCK cells in studies in which MDCK-derived virus was spiked with small amounts of egg-adapted virus and the mixture sequentially passaged on MDCK cells. Such egg-derived variants bind to and are internalized by MDCK cells with a much higher efficiency than cell-derived virus. These data imply that the natural virus, whilst able to replicate on MDCK cells, is by no means the best fit for the MDCK receptor and variants with appropriate substitutions around the receptor binding site can readily displace the natural virus. Vaccine manufacturers who are investigating the use of tissue culture for vaccine production should minimize passage levels of cell-derived virus and beware of the displacement of the original virus with variants similar to those derived in eggs, which are often antigenically distinct.

Mixed populations in influenza virus vaccine strains

Human influenza viruses used for vaccine production have previously been adapted to grow in eggs. During egg adaptation, variants are selected and we have observed that more than one variant may derive in a single egg resulting in a mixed population. We have now investigated the extent of heterogeneity, due to host cell selection, of virus strains used for the manufacture of influenza vaccine for the 1991/1992 and 1992/1993 seasons. The A(H1N1) vaccine virus was homogeneous with respect to substitutions in the haemagglutinin deriving from egg adaptation. However, two A(H3N2) vaccine strains and the influenza B component, B/Yamagata/16/88, consisted of mixed populations, apparently due to their cultivation in eggs. The individual variants within B/Yamagata were isolated and found to be antigenically distinct. The ratios of these variants within different manufacturers' seed stocks varied to the extent that vaccine derived from them could be distinguished antigenically. Furthermore, derivation of high-growth reassortants from the A(H3N2) strains which involves passaging at limit dilution did not necessarily lead to a homogeneous virus population. The significance of these findings for the efficacy of vaccine is not known at present.