Sugar Molecules, Not Antibodies, Used to Detect Influenza Viruses

A fast, sensitive test uses sugar molecules rather than antibodies to detect influenza viruses.

Influenza is a contagious disease, which causes over 150 million infections per year in the United States alone. A new study has demonstrated glycoconjugate-based viral capture and a potential path for the discriminatory detection of intact influenza viruses in the presence of the innate enzymatic activity of viral nucleic acids (NAs).

The capture of intact influenza viruses is of potential benefit for clinical diagnostics.
Conventional tests for influenza viruses, including avian flu, rely on antibodies to recognize viruses. However, antibody-based tests can be expensive and require refrigeration to remain stable. The test using sugar molecules requires no refrigeration and it can be used in remote areas of the world where new influenza viruses frequently emerge.

In a new study, Jurgen Schmidt, Ph.D., from the Los Alamos National Laboratory (NM, USA), Suri Iyer, Ph.D., assistant professor in the department of chemistry, University of Cincinnati, (OH, USA), and colleagues developed artificial forms of sialic acid, a sugar molecule found on the surface of cells that flu viruses attach to when they attack humans.

The scientists synthesized robust, biotinylated biantennary sialylglycoconjugates and demonstrated their ability to differentiate between two types of influenza A strains. In laboratory tests, they showed that the highly selective artificial sugars could be used to quickly capture and recognize two common strains of influenza viruses, H1N1, which infects birds, and H3N2, which infects pigs and humans. They used the molecules to differentiate between two strains (Sydney and Beijing) commonly found in human infections without isolating the viral RNA or surface glycoproteins. The sugars remain stable for several months, can be produced in large quantities, and exhibit extended shelf- life.

The new method appeared in the July 2, 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, a weekly publication.


Related Links:
Los Alamos National Laboratory
University of Cincinnati