From Folding Pathway of Hemagglutinin to Influenza Prevalence in Iran, A Computational Approach

Influenza virus is one of the most deleterious viruses that threaten human being for years. High deleterious effects of Flu virus root in its proficient epidemic mechanisms. Proficient mechanisms that Influenza virus has utilized are interesting for biologists with various research interests. Hemagglutinin (HA) is introduced as one of important Influenza virus proteins for viral infection cycle and virus pandemic potency. In current study, some structural and physicochemical parameters that describe the folding pathway of HA are studied by computational biophysics approaches for the first time. Presented computations are performed to analyze HA protein from worldwide Flu-positive cases between 2005 and 2016. The noted computations are performed to find possible relation between Flu epidemic in Iran and molecular characteristics of HA. The results of current study suggest that there is a direct correlation between the proficiency of HA folding pathway and HA antigenicity and virus epidemic in Iran territory. The results suggest that there is a correlation between the changes in HA stability in membrane and its antigenicity. The results of current study may help researchers to develop models for prediction of incoming Flu pandemic and design molecules for targeting influenza pandemic.