First 3D structure from a key influenza protein sheds light on transmission of flu between birds and humans

February 27, 2007 The term Spanish Flu seems almost innocuous to those who are unaware of its history. Spanish Flu swept the world in the years after World War One, killing somewhere between 2.5 and 5% of the human population of Planet earth. Around 20% of the world population suffered from the disease which killed more people than had WW1 and more than the Black Death of the 1300s – it remains the most deadly outbreak of disease in world history. Spanish Flu was caused by a mutation of the bird-specific H1N1 strain of the influenza virus. More recently, another highly infectious avian strain (H5N1 also known as Bird Flu ) has caused great concern that it might also mutate to allow human-to-human transmission and cause another catastrophic pandemic. Specific mutations in a viral protein, the polymerase, contribute to the ability of the bird virus to jump the species barrier to humans. European researchers have now produced the first three-dimensional image of part of this key protein. The study, which is published in the current issue of Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, investigates the structure and function of the protein and sheds light on how polymerase mutations contribute to transmission of avian flu to humans.

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