We tested the role of the "spring-loaded" conformational change in the fusion mechanism of the influenza hemagglutinin (HA) by assessing the effects of 10 point mutants in the region of high coiled-coil propensity, HA2 54-81. The mutants included proline substitutions at HA2 55, 71, and 80, as well as a double proline substitution at residues 55 and 71. Mutants were expressed in COS or 293T cel...

The co-crystal of HA X-31 and a promising small molecule inhibitor, tert-butyl hydroquinone (TBHQ) 1 , was solved back in 2008 (PDBID: 3EYM) 8. Visual inspection of the 3EYM's TBHQ binding pocket via Chimera 7 reaffirmed TBHQ's drug-like potential and the interactions noted in Russel et al. The structural differences between Group 1 and Group 2 HA were confirmed using the matchmaker function pr...

All but five of the N-terminal 23 residues of the HA2 domain of the influenza virus glycoprotein hemagglutinin (HA) are strictly conserved across all 16 serotypes of HA genes. The structure and function of this HA2 fusion peptide (HAfp) continues to be the focus of extensive biophysical, computational, and functional analysis, but most of these analyses are of peptides that do not include the s...

Syngeneic monoclonal antibodies (MoAb) to Moloney sarcoma cells (MSC) were produced by fusion of spleen cells from MSC regressor mice to myeloma SP2/0. MoAb 244-19A, an immunoglobulin G2b, bound to MSC cells and did not bind to two other sarcomas (K-BALB and Ha2), a carcinoma (Line 1), a fibroblast (A31) or a fibroblast infected with C-type virus (A31-Moloney leukemia virus). In contrast, MoAb ...

A peptide comprising no fewer than the first 20 residues of the influenza hemagglutinin HA2 subunit suffices to induce lipid mixing between the membranes of different unilamellar vesicles. This 20-residue peptide was previously reported to adopt an open "boomerang" structure that differs significantly from the closed helical-hairpin structure of a fusion peptide consisting of the first 23 resid...

The methods currently available to deliver functional labels and drugs to the cell cytosol are inefficient and this constitutes a major obstacle to cell biology (delivery of sensors and imaging probes) and therapy (drug access to the cell internal machinery). As cell membranes are impermeable to most molecular cargos, viral peptides have been used to bolster their internalisation through endocy...

Laminins are important for Schwann cell basement membrane assembly and axonal function. In this study, we found that exogenous laminin-1, like neuromuscular laminins-2/4, formed two distinct extracellular matrices on Schwann cell surfaces, each facilitated by laminin polymerization. Assembly of one, a densely-distributed reticular matrix, was accompanied by a redistribution of cell-surface dyst...