Influenza+structure

Influenza Structure

All three strains of Influenza have very analogous structures. The viral (lipid) envelope of the virus has a rough, spherical shape and is comprised of phospholipids and membrane proteins. The viral envelope houses hemagglutinin (antigenic glycoproteins) and neuraminidase (enzymes) on its outer, topical, layer and surrounds the caspid shell.8,9]

 The caspid shell is located within the viral envelope and contains the single-stranded viral ribonucleic acid (RNA) genome within it. The Influenza caspid shell is an icosahedral-shaped housing for the virus and does not change in shape under stress or manipulation. The caspid shell is composed of protomers, which are identical, geometrical protein subunits that make up the sides of the icosahedral caspid.10]

The viral RNA (vRNA) inside the caspid shell contains all of the information necessary to take control of the host cell and transform it into a virus-replication plant. Like all RNA viruses, influenza has a high rate of mutation compared to DNA-based viruses because RNA-polymerase lacks the proofreading properties of DNA-polymerase, essentially allowing any mutation to be incorporated into the RNA and passed off to the progeny.6,9,10]

