Nature Communications (Sep 2021)

Glycan remodeled erythrocytes facilitate antigenic characterization of recent A/H3N2 influenza viruses

  • Frederik Broszeit,
  • Rosanne J. van Beek,
  • Luca Unione,
  • Theo M. Bestebroer,
  • Digantkumar Chapla,
  • Jeong-Yeh Yang,
  • Kelley W. Moremen,
  • Sander Herfst,
  • Ron A. M. Fouchier,
  • Robert P. de Vries,
  • Geert-Jan Boons

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-25713-1
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 1
pp. 1 – 12

Abstract

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Here, Broszeit et al. show that circulating A/H3N2 viruses have evolved binding specificity to α2,6-sialosides on extended LacNAc moieties and therefore cannot agglutinate erythrocytes. Applying glycan remodeling allows to install functional receptors on erythrocytes and promotes identification of newly circulating variants to facilitate vaccine design.