Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A substance, such as an antibody, that causes agglutination of red blood cells.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Same as hemoagglutinin.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun biochemistry An antigenic glycoprotein that causes agglutination of red blood cells

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[hemagglutin(ate) + –in.]

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word hemagglutinin.

Examples

  • Flu vaccines and drugs focus on proteins found on the surface of the flu virus called hemagglutinin and neuraminidase, which give influenza A viruses their names, as in H5N1 or H1N1.

    FOXNews.com 2011

  • Flu vaccines and drugs focus on proteins found on the surface of the flu virus called hemagglutinin and neuraminidase, which give influenza A viruses their names, as in H5N1 or

    Reuters: Top News 2011

  • Flu vaccines and drugs focus on proteins found on the surface of the flu virus called hemagglutinin and neuraminidase, which give influenza A viruses their names, as in H5N1 or

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2011

  • H1N1, the letters actually refer to the types of proteins found on the surface of a virus, namely hemagglutinin, as you can see there.

    CNN Transcript Sep 26, 2009 2009

  • The new broadly neutralising antibody, called CH65, can stick to the surface part of the flu virus known as hemagglutinin, which mutates every season, forcing medical experts to regularly come up with a new vaccine.

    NEWS.com.au | Top Stories 2011

  • Two studies show an important structure called hemagglutinin is very similar in both the swine flu H1N1 and its distant cousin, the H1N1 virus that caused the 1918 pandemic.

    China Post Online - Taiwan , News , Taiwan newspaper 2010

  • Two studies show an important structure called hemagglutinin is very similar in both the swine flu H1N1 and its distant cousin, the H1N1 virus that caused the 1918 pandemic.

    China Post Online - Taiwan , News , Taiwan newspaper 2010

  • This protein, called hemagglutinin (HA), is the molecular key that flu uses to unlock and enter host cells.

    PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news stories 2009

  • The flu virus uses a "lollipop-shaped" spike known as hemagglutinin to invade nose and lung cells.

    SciDev.Net 2009

  • This protein, called hemagglutinin (HA), is the molecular key that flu uses to unlock and enter host cells.

    PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news stories 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • A spike-shaped surface protein on bacteria and viruses that binds the agent to an affected cell.

    Hemagglutinin is the H in virus subtype identifiers, e.g. H5N1, a strain of influenza.

    March 27, 2008

  • "Hemagglutinin and sialic acid have shapes that fit snugly together, and the hemagglutinin binds to the sialic acid 'receptor' like a hand going into a glove. As the virus sits against the cell membrane, more spikes of hemagglutinin bind to more sialic acid receptors; they work like grappling hooks thrown by pirates onto a vessel, lashing it fast."

    —John M. Barry, The Great Influenza (NY: Penguin Books, 2004), 103

    February 11, 2009