“…The NP forms the viral ribonucleoprotein complex for each segment (vRNP,~250 kD), which is essential for the transcription and replication of viral genome (Klaus, Ruigrok, & Baudin, 1997;Mena et al, 1999;Voeten et al, 2000) The infection cycle begins with the attachment of the viral particle to the sialic acids of the cell membrane (Temoltzin-Palacios & Thomas, 1994). Endosomal acidification causes a three-dimensional modification of HA, which is crucial for the fusion of the viral and the endosomal membranes (Chen, Skehel, & Wiley, 1999;Skehel & Waterfield, 1975;Smirnova et al, 2009). Activation of the proton channels of the virion (M2) results in the dissociation of the vRNP complexes from the M1 matrix proteins that provide the stability to the viral architecture via the interaction with the envelope and the viral nucleocapsid (Castrucci & Kawaoka, 1995;Elton, Medcalf, Bishop, Harrison, & Digard, 1999;Ito et al, 1999).…”