A pregnancy-specific glycoprotein is expressed in the brain and serves as a receptor for mouse hepatitis virus.
Mouse hepatitis virus (MHV), a murine coronavirus known to cause encephalitis and demyelination, uses murine homologues of carcinoembryonic antigens as receptors. However, the expression of these receptors is extremely low in the brain. By low-stringency screening of a mouse brain cDNA library, we have identified a member of the pregnancy-specific glycoprotein (PSG) subgroup of the carcinoembryonic antigen gene family. Unlike other PSG that are expressed in the placenta, it is expressed predominantly in the brain. Transfection of the cDNA into COS-7 cells, which lack a functional MHV receptor, conferred susceptibility to infection by some MHV strains, including A59, MHV-2, and MHV-3, but not JHM. Thus, this is a virus strain-specific receptor. The detection of multiple receptors for MHV suggests the flexibility of this virus in receptor utilization. The identification of this virus in receptor utilization. The identification of a PSG predominantly expressed in the brain also expands the potential functions of these molecules.
Chen
D S
DS
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles 90033-1054, USA.
Asanaka
M
M
Yokomori
K
K
Wang
F
F
Hwang
S B
SB
Li
H P
HP
Lai
M M
MM
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology; D002460:Cell Line; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D005260:Female; D015723:Gene Library; D007668:Kidney; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D006517:Murine hepatitis virus / Q000502:physiology*; D009928:Organ Specificity; D010920:Placenta / Q000378:metabolism; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011247:Pregnancy; D011257:Pregnancy Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology; D011991:Receptors, Virus / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014162:Transfection
D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen; D011257:Pregnancy Proteins; D011991:Receptors, Virus