Helmholtz Gemeinschaft

Search
Browse
Statistics
Feeds

Structural determinants of mucins in influenza virus inhibition: the role of sialylated glycans and molecular size

[thumbnail of Original Article]
Preview
PDF (Original Article) - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader
4MB
[thumbnail of Supplementary Data] Other (Supplementary Data)
1MB

Item Type:Article
Title:Structural determinants of mucins in influenza virus inhibition: the role of sialylated glycans and molecular size
Creators Name:Butnarasu, C., Safferthal, M., Thomas, J., Povolotsky, T.L., Diehn, R., Fentker, K., Mertins, P., Pagel, K. and Lauster, D.C.
Abstract:Mucins are heavily glycosylated proteins that play a crucial role in protecting mucosal surfaces against pathogens, including influenza viruses. This study investigates the antiviral properties of bovine submaxillary mucins (BSM) as a model for oral mucins against the influenza virus (A/H3N2 subtype), focusing on glycan composition and mucin size. BSM was purified, and characterized by proteomic and glycomic analysis and its antiviral efficacy was assessed after selective removal of sialic acids, N-glycans, or all glycans via enzymatic and chemical treatments. We employed virus binding and inhibition assays, including microscale thermophoresis (MST) and hemagglutination inhibition (HAI), to characterize processed mucins for structure activity correlations. Removal of sialic acids reduced BSM's antiviral activity by over 10-fold, while complete glycan removal abolished it entirely, highlighting sialylated O-glycans as critical for viral inhibition. N-glycan removal had minimal impact on antiviral efficacy. A size-dependent antiviral effect was observed: smaller mucin fragments (∼50 and 330 kDa), which retained comparable O-glycosylation patterns, showed significantly reduced inhibition and viral binding affinity several orders of magnitude below intact BSM. These findings underscore the importance of mucin size and sialylated O-glycans in antiviral defense mechanisms against influenza.
Keywords:Mucins, Glycomics, Influenza Virus, Antivirals, H3N2
Source:International Journal of Biological Macromolecules
ISSN:0141-8130
Publisher:Elsevier
Volume:307
Number:Part 4
Page Range:142357
Date:May 2025
Official Publication:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.142357
PubMed:View item in PubMed

Repository Staff Only: item control page

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

Open Access
MDC Library