Immunochemical Study of Influenza Virus and Associated Host Tissue Components

Abstract

The relation of chicken tissue antigens to influenza viruses propagated in chicken embryos has been investigated by immunochemical analysis of viral vaccine concentrates, in which egg albumin and other normal chicken tissue components have been identified. An acid mucopolysaccharide (host factor) (HF) which is extractable from chorioallantoic fluid, and antibody to which combines specifically with viral hemagglutinin, has been identified in vaccine preparations and in crude extracts of chorioallantoic membrane. Further evidence is presented to support the conclusion that HF forms part of the viral envelope, in intimate association with but distinct from hemagglutinin and neuraminidase.