%0 Journal Article %A Betakova, Tatiana %A Nermut, Milan V. %A Hay, Alan J. %T The NB protein is an integral component of the membrane of influenza B virus %D 1996 %J Journal of General Virology, %V 77 %N 11 %P 2689-2694 %@ 1465-2099 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/0022-1317-77-11-2689 %I Microbiology Society, %X The results of biochemical and immunoelectron microscopic studies provide evidence that the NB protein is an integral component of the influenza B virion. Its glycosylation and orientation in the membrane were shown to be equivalent to that of NB in the plasma membrane of virus-infected cells. Sensitivity to proteinase K showed that the N terminus is exterior to the virion and gold immunolabelling of freeze-fractured replicas showed that the C terminus is located in the interior of the virion. The similarities between NB of influenza B and M2 of influenza A viruses in structural features, their presence in the virion and possession of an ion channel activity suggest that, by analogy with the M2 protein, NB may also have a role in virus entry. %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/0022-1317-77-11-2689