Synthesis and Membrane-Binding Properties of a Characteristic Lipopeptide from the Membrane-Anchoring Domain of Influenza Virus A Hemagglutinin

On the trail of the influenza virus! Fluorescent-labeled lipopeptides, such as the characteristic S-palmitoylated partial structure from influenza virus hemagglutinin A, can be synthesized efficiently by employing a new enzymatic protecting-group technique in the key steps. Their binding to model membranes was determined in a kinetic assay, so leading to a first approximation of the membrane-anchoring ability of the corresponding lipopeptide motif in the parent protein.