The fungal strain Humicola lutea 103 produces a naturally glycosylated Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase (Cu/ZnSOD) (HLSOD). To improve its yield, the effect of increased concentration of Cu2+ (from 1 to 750 mug/ml) on growth and enzyme biosynthesis was studied. The primary structure of this fungal enzyme has been determined by Edman degradation of peptide fragments derived from proteolytic digest. A single chain of the protein, consisting of 152 amino acid residues, reveals a very high degree (74-85%) of structural homology in comparison to the amino acid sequences of other fungal Cu/ZnSODs. The difference of the molecular masses of H. lutea Cu/ZnSOD, measured by MALDI-MS (15,935 Da) and calculated by its amino acid sequence (15,716 Da), is attributed to the carbohydrate chain of one mole of N-acetylglucosamine, attached to the N-glycosylation site Asn(23)-Glu-Ser. HLSOD protected mice from mortality after experimental influenza A/Aichi/2/68 (H3N2) virus infection. Using the glycosylated HLSOD, the survival rate is increased by 66% (protective index = 86.1%) and the survival time prolonged by 5.2 days, similar to the application of ribavarin, while non-glycosylated bovine SOD conferred lower protection. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.