title: Lipid composition of viral envelope of three strains of influenza virus - not all viruses are created equal.
abstract: While differences in the rate of virus fusion and budding from the host cell membrane have been correlated with pathogenicity, no systematic study of the contribution of differences in viral envelope composition has previously been attempted. Using rigorous virus purification, marked differences between virions and host were observed. Over 125 phospholipid species have been quantitated for three strains of influenza (HKx31- H3N2, PR8- H1N1, and VN1203- H5N1) grown in eggs. The glycerophospholipid composition of purified virions differs from that of the host or that of typical mammalian cells. Phosphatidylcholine is the major component in most mammalian cell membranes, while in purified virions phosphatidylethanolamine dominates. Due to its effects on membrane curvature, it is likely that the variations in its content are important to viral processing during infection. This integrated method of virion isolation with systematic analysis of glycerophospholipids provides a tool for the assessment of species specific biomarkers of viral pathogenicity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee 37232-6600.
authors.forename: Pavlina T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Ivanova
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee 37232-6600.
authors.forename: David S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Myers
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee 37232-6600.
authors.forename: Stephen B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Milne
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee 38105-3678.
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: McClaren
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee 38105-3678.
authors.forename: Paul G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee 37232-6600 ; Department of Biochemistry, The Vanderbilt Institute of Chemical Biology, The Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37232-6600.
authors.forename: H Alex
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Brown
keywords: infectious disease; influenza; lipidomics; membrane lipid composition; phospholipids; plasmalogens; virion