The Lamb Lab Structure and Replication of Influenza Virus and Paramyxoviruses Robert A. Lamb, Ph.D., Sc.
Influenza viruses cause important diseases in humans and animals.
Influenza A and B viruses have tremendous socioeconomic consequences, for influenza continues to occur in regular epidemics and occasional pandemics and is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Paramyxoviruses cause many biologically and economically important diseases of humans and lower animals. Influenza virus and SV5 are being studied not only because of their importance as the causative agents of major diseases but also because they provide excellent models for examining a variety of properties of integral membrane proteins, in particular the processes by which these viruses enter cells and assemble at the plasma membrane. Since the major glycoproteins are also the predominant antigenic determinants of the viruses, knowledge about their structure should enhance our understanding of how they act as immunological targets, thus aiding in developing new vaccines. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the entry of paramyxoviruses into host cells remain poorly understood.