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Neuraminidase Activity Of Influenza Virus Strains That Differ In The Ability To Cause Disease, Benjamin Hanks Brown, Bart Tarbet

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Influenza viruses are classified based on their surface glycoproteins: hemagglutinin and neuraminidase. Hemagglutinin (HA) is responsible for binding to the host cell, while neuraminidase (NA) facilitates escape of newly formed virus particles. These studies determined the NA activity of three subtypes of influenza A virus that differ in their ability to cause disease in mice: influenza A/NWS/33 (H1N1), influenza A/Victoria/3/75 (H3N2), and influenza A/Duck/MN/1525/81 (H5N1). Chemiluminescent quantitation of NA activity in equal amounts of each virus was determined in three replicate experiments. Results indicate that N1 virus subtypes have higher NA activity than do N2 subtypes. In addition, the NA …