Advertisement

If you have an ACS member number, please enter it here so we can link this account to your membership. (optional)

ACS values your privacy. By submitting your information, you are gaining access to C&EN and subscribing to our weekly newsletter. We use the information you provide to make your reading experience better, and we will never sell your data to third party members.

ENJOY UNLIMITED ACCES TO C&EN

Biological Chemistry

Three-pronged designed peptide neutralizes influenza

Researchers improve on nature by finding a way to block viral binding to hosts at three spots on the pathogen simultaneously

by Sarah Everts
June 26, 2017 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 95, Issue 26

[+]Enlarge
Credit: David Baker/U Washington
A designed protein (brown and orange) binds the influenza hemagglutinin protein (green) at three locations simultaneously to block infection.
This schematic shows how a customized peptide binds to the influenza hemagglutinin protein.
Credit: David Baker/U Washington
A designed protein (brown and orange) binds the influenza hemagglutinin protein (green) at three locations simultaneously to block infection.

If you want to thwart infection by influenza viruses, a good bet is to block the pathogen’s exterior hemagglutinin proteins from binding with a host cell’s sialic acid-containing sugars. Nature already uses this interference strategy: Antibodies bind influenza hemagglutinin, preventing infection by obstructing the host-pathogen interaction in a variety of ways, sometimes at the sialic acid binding site and other times with just the antibody’s sheer physical bulk. This bulk has its downside, though: Only one antibody can bind a hemagglutinin site at a time. David Baker and Eva-Maria Strauch of the University of Washington and colleagues wondered if they could design a protein that bound hemagglutinin in three places simultaneously instead of just one, to improve on nature’s avidity—the overall strength of binding. They theorized this would be possible because hemagglutinin forms regular trimers on the surface of the virus. First, the team used a computational strategy to design a protein that could bind one of hemagglutinin’s sialic acid receptor sites (Nat. Biotechnol. 2017, DOI: 10.1038/nbt.3907). Then they built a scaffold that could orient three of these hemagglutinin-binding proteins simultaneously on the surface of the virus. When they tested their design, the three-pronged weapon neutralized influenza in cell culture and protected mice from infection by the pathogen.

Article:

This article has been sent to the following recipient:

0 /1 FREE ARTICLES LEFT THIS MONTH Remaining
Chemistry matters. Join us to get the news you need.