image: Influenza virus initiates its infection by attaching to host cells and trafficking to endosomal compartments. The virus membrane fuses with the endosomal membrane releasing the viral ribonucleoprotein complexes (RNPs) containing the viral genome, viral nucleoprotein and viral polymerase into the host cell. The RNP then localize to the cell nucleus where viral transcription occurs resulting in the production of viral proteins on host cell ribosomes. The synthesis of new viral proteins allows the RNP complex to carry out viral replication, synthesizing new copies of the viral genome which are packaged into RNPs for the next infection cycle. This image relates to a paper that appeared in the Nov. 22, 2012, issue of Science Express, published by AAAS. The paper, by A. Moeller at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., and colleagues was titled, "Organization of the Influenza Virus Replication Machinery." view more
Credit: Image courtesy of Arne Moeller, The Scripps Research Institute