title: A new class of receptor for herpes simplex virus has heptad repeat motifs that are common to membrane fusion proteins.
abstract: We isolated a human cDNA by expression cloning and characterized its gene product as a new human protein that enables entry and infection of herpes simplex virus (HSV). The gene, designated hfl-B5, encodes a type II cell surface membrane protein, B5, that is broadly expressed in human primary tissue and cell lines. It contains a high-scoring heptad repeat at the extracellular C terminus that is predicted to form an alpha-helix for coiled coils like those in cellular SNAREs or in some viral fusion proteins. A synthetic 30-mer peptide that has the same sequence as the heptad repeat alpha-helix blocks HSV infection of B5-expressing porcine cells and human HEp-2 cells. Transient expression of human B5 in HEp-2 cells results in increased polykarocyte formation even in the absence of viral proteins. The B5 protein fulfills all criteria as a receptor or coreceptor for HSV entry. Use by HSV of a human cellular receptor, such as B5, that contains putative membrane fusion domains provides an example where a pathogenic virus with broad tropism has usurped a widely expressed cellular protein to function in infection at events that lead to membrane fusion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan School of Medicine, 6736 Medical Sciences II, 0620, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0620, USA.
authors.forename: Aleida
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Perez
authors.forename: Qing-Xue
authors.initials: QX
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Perez-Romero
authors.forename: Gregory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Delassus
authors.forename: Santiago R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Lopez
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sutter
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: McLaren
authors.forename: A Oveta
authors.initials: AO
authors.lastname: Fuller
mesh_terms: D020816:Amino Acid Motifs; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D018259:Herpesvirus 1, Human / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D006801:Humans; D008561:Membrane Fusion; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011991:Receptors, Virus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D008565:Membrane Proteins; D011991:Receptors, Virus