Veterinary Microbiology and Immunobiology Commons^™

The Lack Of An Inherent Membrane Targeting Signal Is Responsible For The Failure Of The Matrix (M1) Protein Of Influenza A Virus To Bud Into Virus-Like Particles, Dan Wang, Aaron Harmon, Jing Jin, David H. Francis, Jane Christopher-Hennings, Eric A. Nelson, Ronald C. Montelaro, Feng Li

Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences Faculty Publications

The matrix protein (M1) of influenza A virus is generally viewed as a key orchestrator in the release of influenza virions from the plasma membrane during infection. In contrast to this model, recent studies have indicated that influenza virus requires expression of the envelope proteins for budding of intracellular M1 into virus particles. Here we explored the mechanisms that control M1 budding. Similarly to previous studies, we found that M1 by itself fails to form virus-like-particles (VLPs). We further demonstrated that M1, in the absence of other viral proteins, was preferentially targeted to the nucleus/perinuclear region rather than to the …