Calorimetric detection of influenza virus induced membrane fusion

Membrane fusion induced by the hemagglutinin glycoprotein of influenza virus has been extensively characterized, but the mechanism whereby the protein achieves the merger of the viral and target membrane lipids remains enigmatic. Various lipid intermediate structures have been proposed, and the energies required for their formation predicted. Here, we have analyzed the enthalpies of fusion of influenza with liposomes by titration calorimetry. If a small sample of virus in a weak neutral pH buffer was added to an excess of liposomes at low pH, a two-component reaction was seen, composed of an exothermic reaction and a slower endothermic reaction. The exothermic reaction was the result of acid-base reactions between the neutral pH virus sample and low pH buffer and low-pH-induced changes in the virus. The endothermic reaction was not observed in the absence of liposomes and much reduced if acid-inactivated virus, which had lost its fusion but not its binding activity, was added to liposomes. The endothermic reaction was more temperature dependent than the exothermic reaction; its pH dependence corresponded with that of fusion and its enthalpy was higher if fusion was more extensive. These data indicate that most of the endothermic reaction was due to membrane fusion. The experimentally determined enthalpy of fusion, 0.6-0.7 kcal per mol of viral phospholipids, is much higher than expected on the basis of current theories about the formation of lipid intermediates during membrane fusion.