228R from Iran Increases Critical Receptor Binding Domain Diversity Above 90%

Last Updated 2010-10-26

In positions where this flu is revising the pandemic gene code, the ΣPF11 reservoir (pH1N1) presently exhibits a strong pattern of alliance with serotypes normally infecting birds, horses and dogs.

100% of the Hemagglutinin positions between 186 and 248, including antigenic areas of the Receptor Binding Domain (RBD/RBS), are on record as polymorphic. No position in that range is stable.  Many positions rate multiple changes.  Protein revision is now documented at 57 of the 63 positions (90%), engaging the potential for antibody resistance (natural immune escape and vaccine escape). 

The Shiraz University of Medical Science released a group of sequences today at GenBank.  Each demonstrates unusual characteristics.  One stands above the others.  IranShiraz1_2010_02 carries a previously unseen Receptor Binding Domain revision, 228R, alongside changes found recently in the H10N7 reservoir. Of interest is the fact that changes at or around amino acid position 238 and changes at or around 275 are associated with an emerging sub-clade that is permissive to and demonstrates the M230I polymorphism.

Is 228R another tertiary Immune Escape marker similar in mechanism to 230I?  Iran has also documented 227Q in the reservoir on a hyper-morphic sample, Iran15583_2009_11_21.

. . . . IranShiraz1_2010_02 (
. . . . . . . . 88T,
. . . . . . . . 90K,
. . . . . . . . 91W,
. . . . . . . . syn218A [WSN33],
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [Nebraska02_2010_03_11
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .with 523A,
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CubaHabana2687_2009
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .with 221T]
. . . . . . . . 228R (cGG) [H9N2 2008 (AGA)],
. . . . . . . . 238Q [H10N7 2009],
. . . . . . . . 246Q,
. . . . . . . . 277N [H5N1, H10N7 2009],
. . . . . . . . . . . . . [Iran15583_2009_11_21,
. . . . . . . . . . . . . Wisconsin],
. . . . . . . . syn350G [swThaiCURA4_2009_11
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . with 226R, syn484N])

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