Seeing Bird Flu in 3D: Exploring Influenza A H5N1 Virus Protein Structures using RCSB.org Tools

Webinar hosted by RCSB PDB and Rutgers Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine | March 17, 2025

Viruses represent major threats to global health. Historically, pandemics of influenza, polio, smallpox, and many other viruses have spread through populations numerous times, killing and maiming millions of individuals. Outbreaks of influenza A H5N1 are hitting poultry and dairy farms across the nation, with impact on the economy and public health.

After watching the videos featured in this course, you will be able to:

• Understand the basics of influenza A H5N1 virus
• Identify influenza-related PDB structures and Computed Structure Models for research
• Learn how to align structures for analysis
• Search the PDB archive by structural motif
• Gain hands-on experience using RCSB.org tools

Additional materials for this course are available:

• Presentation Slides
• Visualizing and Analyzing 3D Biomolecular Structures using Mol* at RCSB.org: Influenza A H5N1 Virus Proteome Case Study (2025) Protein Science doi: 10.1002/pro.70093
  • The supplementary material provides instructions for recreating most of the visualizations from the main manuscript, along with additional details where needed.
• Molecule of the Month: H5 Hemagglutinin
• Molecular Landscape painting: Influenza Virus

Click on the image below to play the video.