Anti-Avian Influenza H5N1 NS2

Influenza A virus is a major public health threat, killing more than 30,000 people per year in the USA. Novel influenza virus strains caused by genetic drift and viral recombination emerge periodically to which humans have little or no immunity, resulting in devastating pandemics. Influenza A can exist in a variety of animals; however, it is in birds that all subtypes, including the so-called “avian flu” or H5N1, can be found. These subtypes are classified based on the combination of the virus coat glycoproteins hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) subtypes. One of the less studied proteins encoded by the influenza virus is the nonstructural protein (NS) 2. NS2 binds to the influenza matrix protein M1 that is bound to the ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complex and mediates the contact between the M1/RNP complex and the cellular exportin CRM, but does not interact with nucleosomes.