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Monday, February 10, 2025

Influenza A viruses adapt shape in response to environmental pressures

NIH study identifies previously unknown adaptation.

Influenza A Virus (H3N2) Colorized transmission electron micrograph of influenza A virus particles, colorized red and gold, isolated from a patient sample and then propagated in cell culture. Influenza A can infect both humans and animals, including birds and pigs. More specifically, this image features the H3N2 influenza strain, isolated from a patient in Victoria, Australia, in 1975. Notable for forming both sphericNIAID

What

Influenza A virus particles strategically adapt their shape—to become either spheres or larger filaments—to favor their ability to infect cells depending on environmental conditions, according to a new study from National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists. This previously unrecognized response could help explain how influenza A and other viruses persist in populations, evade immune responses, and acquire adaptive mutations, the researchers explain in a new study published in Nature Microbiology.

The study, led by intramural researchers at NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), was designed to determine why many influenza A virus particles exist as filaments. The filament shape requires more energy to form than a sphere, they state, and its abundance has been previously unexplained. To find the answer, they developed a way to observe and measure real-time influenza A virus structure during formation.

The researchers found:

  • Influenza A viruses rapidly adjust their shape when placed in conditions that reduce infection efficiency, such as the presence of antiviral antibodies or host incompatibility.
  • A virus’ shape is dynamic and impacted by its environment, rather than being fixed by strain, as commonly believed.
  • The study assessed 16 different virus-cell combinations that resulted in predictable shape trends.

Prior experiments by the research team showed that influenza A virus filaments can resist inactivation by antibodies, and the team is working to understand exactly how antibodies influence shape and infection efficiency. They also anticipate learning how viral mutations affect the shape of the virus. Many other viruses – such as measles, Ebola, Nipah, Hendra and respiratory syncytial virus – also incorporate a mixed-shape infection strategy, the researchers note.

Article

E Partlow, et al. Influenza A virus rapidly adapts particle shape to environmental pressures. Nature Microbiology DOI: 10.1038/s41564-025-01925-9 (2025).

Who

Tijana Ivanovic, Ph.D., is chief of the Single Virion Biology and Biophysics Unit in the NIAID Laboratory of Viral Diseases.

NIAID conducts and supports research—at NIH, throughout the United States, and worldwide—to study the causes of infectious and immune-mediated diseases, and to develop better means of preventing, diagnosing and treating these illnesses. News releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are available on the NIAID website.  

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

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