Z Biotech’s Neu5Ac/Neu5Gc N-glycan microarray helps researchers track changes in host glycan targets of avian influenza within H5N1 phylogenies.

A significant 2024 outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza virus in dairy cows has been reported in more than 10 states. The dairy cow outbreak has affected domestic felines, alpacas, poultry, mice and at least three cases in humans have been confirmed. The avian influenza H5N1 virus typically binds to glycans terminating in α2-3 linked sialic acids, whereas influenza viruses infecting humans typically bind to glycans terminating in α2-6 linked sialic acids. Dairy cow mammary tissues (the primary site of H5N1 infection) contain both α2-3 and α2-6 linked sialic acids, prompting researchers to question whether dairy cows may be a bridge to infections of H5N1 between avian species and humans. Good et al. sought to understand the changes in H5N1 virus receptor binding specificities over time from ancestral H5N1 viruses to the current human cases caused by the dairy cow outbreak.

Good et al. used a Z Biotech N-acetylneuraminic acid/N-glycolylneuraminic acid microarray to profile sialic acid binding specificities of recombinant H5 proteins. Upon assaying the ancestral H5 protein from 1996, H5 proteins from 2022, and a H5 protein from a 2024 dairy farm worker they discovered that modern H5 proteins show an increased diversity of binding to α2-3 linked sialic acid structures relative to the tested ancestral H5 protein.