%0 Journal Article
%T Sensitive and Direct Detection of Receptor Binding Specificity of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A Virus in Clinical Samples
%A Tadanobu Takahashi
%A Tatsuya Kawakami
%A Takashi Mizuno
%A Akira Minami
%A Yuko Uchida
%A Takehiko Saito
%A Shigeyuki Matsui
%A Makoto Ogata
%A Taichi Usui
%A Nongluk Sriwilaijaroen
%A Hiroaki Hiramatsu
%A Yasuo Suzuki
%A Takashi Suzuki
%J PLOS ONE
%D 2013
%I Public Library of Science (PLoS)
%R 10.1371/journal.pone.0078125
%X Influenza A virus (IAV) recognizes two types of N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) by galactose (Gal) linkages, Neu5Ac¦Á2,3Gal and Neu5Ac¦Á2,6Gal. Avian IAV preferentially binds to Neu5Ac¦Á2,3Gal linkage, while human IAV preferentially binds to Neu5Ac¦Á2,6Gal linkage, as a virus receptor. Shift in receptor binding specificity of avian IAV from Neu5Ac¦Á2,3Gal linkage to Neu5Ac¦Á2,6Gal linkage is generally believed to be a critical factor for its transmission ability among humans. Surveillance of this shift of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian IAV (HPAI) is thought to be a very important for prediction and prevention of a catastrophic pandemic of HPAI among humans. In this study, we demonstrated that receptor binding specificity of IAV bound to sialo-glycoconjugates was sensitively detected by quantifying the HA gene with real-time reverse-transcription-PCR. The new assay enabled direct detection of receptor binding specificity of HPAIs in chicken clinical samples including trachea and cloaca swabs in only less than 4 h.
%U http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0078125