RNA structure interactions and ribonucleoprotein processes of the influenza A virus

Dawson, Wayne K; Lazniewski, Michal; Plewczynski, Dariusz

Influenza is an envelope virus, where viral nucleocapsid (genome þ NPs) is protected by a lipid bilayer derived from the modified host cell's membrane [2] . The outer layer of the influenza virus is studded with the glycoproteins hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). On the virion, the HA is found in the form of a homotrimer (HA-trimer), while the NA forms into a homotetramer (NA-tetramer). The HA-trimers are relatively evenly distributed on the surface of the virion in the lipid bilayer, whereas the NA-tetramers appear to localize at one end of the virion, most likely at the exit point of the budding virion [4] . Recently, the distribution of the HA-trimers into larger conglomerates was observed; however, the biological consequences of these processes are not well understood [5] . Wayne Dawson is a contributing researcher at the Bio-information Lab in Yayoi campus at the University of Tokyo and also associated with Center of New Technologies (CeNT) in Warsaw, Poland. His research is primarily directed to RNA structure prediction and structural biology and recently focused on chromatin structure. Michał Ła zniewski is a researcher at the Laboratory of Functional and Structural Genomics at the University of Warsaw in the Center of New Technologies (CeNT) and Department of Physical Chemistry in the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Medical University of Warsaw. His research is in bioinformatics and structural biology with a focus on medical applications using bioinformatics. Dariusz Plewczy nski is a professor and head of the Laboratory of Functional and Structural Genomics at the University of Warsaw in the Center of New Technologies (CeNT) in Warsaw, Poland and also the affiliated with the Faculty of Mathematics and Information Science at Warsaw University of Technology in Warsaw. His main expertise covers computational genomics, biostatistics and bioinformatics. He is actively applying computational modeling to various interdisciplinary problems in Human Genomics.