Identical Subsequences of Contiguous Amino Acids in Influenza Virus Hemagglutinin and in Human Proteins

Background: Influenza virus is a significant public health problem throughout the world. Increased insight into the basic biology of the virus may enable the development of more effective anti-influenza preventives and therapeutics. Methodology: The occurrence of specific amino acid subsequences in H1N1 and H3N2 influenza virus hemagglutinins was used for joint detection of those subsequences in human proteins. Only subsequences consisting of at least 5 contiguous amino acids were considered for further study. Results: Ten H1N1 hemagglutinin amino acid subsequences and nine H3N2 hemagglutinin amino subsequences were identified as also occurring in proteins of human origin. The length of the subsequences selected for further study, ranged from 5 contiguous amino acids to 8 contiguous amino acids. Conclusion: The joint occurrence of amino acid subsequences in influenza hemagglutinins and in human proteins may help explain the relatively low efficacy of current anti-influenza vaccines. It is proposed that the identification of the joint subsequences may be useful for the improved design of anti-influenza therapeutics and especially anti-influenza vaccines.