Lassa virus entry requires a trigger-induced receptor switch

Abstract

Lassa virus, which spreads from rodents to humans, infecting about half a million people every year, can lead to deadly hemorrhagic fever. Like many viruses, Lassa virus binds to cell surface receptors. Jae et al. now show that to enter a cell, the virus requires a second receptor, this one inside the infected cell. This requirement sheds light on the “enigmatic resistance” of bird cells to Lassa virus observed three decades ago. Although bird cells have the cell surface receptor, the intracellular receptor cannot bind the virus, stopping it in its tracks.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Jun 27, 2014
Source ID
10.1126/science.1252480

Entities

People

  • Ana I. Kuehne
  • Andrew S Herbert
  • Ariel S Wirchnianski
  • Hans Janssen
  • John M Dye
  • Lucas T. Jae
  • Markus Damme
  • Matthijs Raaben
  • Paul Saftig
  • Sarah H. Stubbs
  • Sean P. Whelan
  • Thijn Brummelkamp
  • Timothy K. Soh

Organizations

  • Austrian Academy of Sciences
  • Harvard Medical School
  • NKI
  • United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Biology

Readers

  • Breast cancer cell signaling and growth regulation.
  • Infectious Disease/Epidemiology