Hemagglutinin and neuraminidase matching patterns of two influenza A virus strains related to the 1918 and 2009 global pandemics

The current pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus has revealed a complicated reassortment of various influenza A viruses. The biological study of these viruses, especially of the viral envelope proteins hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA), is urgently needed for the control and prevention of H1N1 viruses. We have generated H1N1-2009 and H1N1-1918 pseudotyped particles (pp) with high infectivity. Combinations of HA1918 + NA2009 and HA2009 + NA1918 also formed infectious H1N1pps, among which the HA2009 + NA1918 combination resulted in the most highly infectious pp. Our study demonstrated that some reassortments of H1N1 viruses may hold the potential to produce higher infectivity than do their ancestors.