Antigenic and structural characterization of multiple subpopulations of H3N2 influenza virus from an individual

Influenza viruses grown in embryonated chicken eggs frequently possess antigenically distinguishable hemagglutinin (HA) compared to virus from the same source grown in mammalian cell culture. To further investigate the extent of variation among viruses from an individual, viruses were isolated from throat washes collected over a 48-hr period during infection with influenza virus designated A/Mem/6/86 (H3N2). Viruses were isolated from limit dilutions in eggs and mammalian Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells and the antigenic, structural, and receptor-binding properties of these viruses were determined. Viruses which could be isolated in MDCK cells were present at 10- to 100-fold higher frequency in the original sample than viruses which could be isolated in eggs. The HA of virus clones isolated in MDCK cells were antigenically and structurally identical. In contrast, viruses from the same source, selected at limit dilution in eggs, could be divided into three distinct subpopulations based on the distinguishable antigenic and structural characteristics of their HA molecules. The three groups of egg-grown viruses could be distinguished from each other, and from MDCK cell-grown viruses, not only by a panel of anti-HA monoclonal antibodies, but also by immune ferret sera raised to H3N2 virus strains of recent years and sera raised to the different egg-grown clones themselves. Of these groups, group 1 and group 2 egg-grown viruses each represented a minor subpopulation of viruses which could be isolated in eggs, while viruses of the third antigenic phenotype were the most frequently isolated in eggs. Amino acid substitutions in the HA of egg-grown viruses occurred in antigenic and receptor-binding sites of the molecule. Group 1 viruses each possessed two amino acid substitutions in their HA molecules at residues 193 and 229 in HA1. Group 3 viruses, which displayed altered receptor specificities compared to MDCK cell-grown viruses and other egg-grown viruses, possessed a single amino acid substitution at residue 145 in HA1. The HA of the group 2 egg-grown viruses appeared structurally identical, yet displayed marked differences in antigenic and receptor-binding properties, compared to viruses isolated in MDCK cells. These results demonstrate that multiple, distinct subpopulations of virus can be isolated from a single patient during an infection with influenza and highlights the potential problems in selecting the most appropriate virus for epidemiological and vaccine purposes since selection could result in the use of viruses that are not representative of those which predominate in a human population.