Host genes and influenza pathogenesis in humans: An emerging paradigm

Kelvin Kai Wang To, Jie Zhou, Jasper Fuk Woo Chan, Kwok Yung Yuen

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

23 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The emergence of the pandemic influenza virus A(H1N1)pdm09 in 2009 and avian influenza virus A(H7N9) in 2013 provided unique opportunities for assessing genetic predispositions to severe disease because many patients did not have any underlying risk factor or neutralizing antibody against these agents, in contrast to seasonal influenza viruses. High-throughput screening platforms and large human or animal databases from international collaborations allow rapid selection of potential candidate genes for confirmatory functional studies. In the last 2 years, at least seven new human susceptibility genes have been identified in genetic association studies. Integration of knowledge from genetic and phenotypic studies is essential to identify important gene targets for treatment and prevention of influenza virus infection.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)7-15
Number of pages9
JournalCurrent Opinion in Virology
Volume14
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 15 2015
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Published by Elsevier B.V.

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

  • Virology

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