Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42538938›Full record

ArticlebioRxiv : the preprint server for biology2026

Loss of hemagglutination ability by H3N2 influenza A virus, subclade K.

Ruonan Liang, Pascal Lexmond, Oliver C Grant, Mark Pronk, Roland J Pieters, Ron A M Fouchier, Geert-Jan Boons, Björn F Koel, Robert P de Vries

Abstract readPreprint
In one paragraph

Article in bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Ruonan LiangDepartment of Chemical Biology & Drug Discovery, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht University, Universiteitsweg 99, 3584CG, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Pascal LexmondDepartment of Viroscience, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Oliver C GrantDepartment of Chemical Biology & Drug Discovery, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht University, Universiteitsweg 99, 3584CG, Utrecht, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0003-4835-5161
Mark PronkDepartment of Viroscience, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Roland J PietersDepartment of Chemical Biology & Drug Discovery, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht University, Universiteitsweg 99, 3584CG, Utrecht, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0003-4723-3584
Ron A M FouchierDepartment of Viroscience, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0001-8095-2869
Geert-Jan BoonsDepartment of Chemical Biology & Drug Discovery, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht University, Universiteitsweg 99, 3584CG, Utrecht, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0003-3111-5954
Björn F KoelDepartment of Viroscience, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID 0009-0002-4456-8063
Robert P de VriesDepartment of Chemical Biology & Drug Discovery, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht University, Universiteitsweg 99, 3584CG, Utrecht, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-1586-4464

Funding

Automated chemo-enzymatic synthesis of N-glycans for host-pathogen interactionsR01AI165692 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA · PI BOONS, GEERT-JAN · 2022 to 2025
$2.2M
NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI165692
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Seasonal human H3N2 influenza viruses, subclade K (J.2.4.1), have been the predominant influenza A viruses in the Northern hemisphere influenza season of 2025/2026. Since 2024, the vaccine virus A/Darwin/6/21 has emerged in different antigenic variants. Antigenic changes are frequently caused by amino acid substitutions near the hemagglutinin (HA) receptor-binding pocket, which can also affect receptor binding properties, such as hemagglutination. Hemagglutination is crucial for assessing antigenicity using the hemagglutination inhibition (HAI) assay, and a loss of binding to turkey erythrocytes could significantly hamper this process. In this study, we explored how substitutions in or around the HA receptor-binding site affect binding to glycans at the molecular level. We employed ELISA, glycan array, flow cytometry, hemagglutination assays, and tissue staining. Substitutions at positions 140, 1G2, and 223 establish clade J viruses that emerged in 2024. Computational analysis of HA in complex with an elongated glycan reveals that mutation F1G2 forms a CH-Pi interaction to stabilize the binding. Based on this background, substitutions in antigenic sites A and B within subclade K viruses exhibit a binding preference for elongated glycans, which are not displayed on turkey erythrocytes. Conversely, our previously established glyco-remodeled erythrocytes are efficiently bound by these subclade K H3N2 viruses and could support influenza surveillance and vaccine development.

Identifiers

PMID42538938
PMCPMC13419516

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.