# Mechanism of Interaction between Influenza Hemagglutinin and Host Cell Phosphoinositides

> **NIH NIH R15** · UNIVERSITY OF MAINE ORONO · 2020 · $428,192

## Abstract

Influenza virus causes significant illness and mortality in the U.S. and worldwide. Vaccines offer
some protection, but must be continuously tailored to seasonal mutations of the virus. Some
strains of influenza are resistant to one or more of the limited number of available anti-viral
drugs. New strategies which attack invariant features of the virus are desperately needed. The
protein hemagglutinin, found on the surface of the virus, allows the virus to bind to host cells
and enter. Entry depends on high density clusters of hemagglutinin within the viral membrane,
but the mechanism of cluster formation is unknown. This project will address the fundamental
question of how hemagglutinin forms clusters, even in the absence of other viral components,
by hijacking cellular components. We recently discovered that hemagglutinin interacts with a
particular host cell lipid (PIP2) that is able to control the host cell cytoskeleton and several
signaling pathways that have been implicated previously in infection. This project will
investigate the mechanism of interaction between hemagglutinin and PIP2 using super-
resolution microscopy and other fluorescence methods, targeting the portions of hemagglutinin
that are invariant and therefore less likely to mutate over time. Results will help identify new
targets for anti-viral drugs and illuminate how influenza is able to modify the host cell
cytoskeleton and plasma membrane for its own life cycle.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10045796
- **Project number:** 1R15GM139070-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MAINE ORONO
- **Principal Investigator:** SAMUEL T HESS
- **Activity code:** R15 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $428,192
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-01 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10045796

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10045796, Mechanism of Interaction between Influenza Hemagglutinin and Host Cell Phosphoinositides (1R15GM139070-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10045796. Licensed CC0.

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