title: Norovirus-binding proteins recovered from activated sludge micro-organisms with an affinity to a noroviral capsid peptide.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Transmission routes of noroviruses, leading aetiological agents of acute gastroenteritis, are rarely verified when outbreaks occur. Because the destination of norovirus particles being firmly captured by micro-organisms could be totally different from that of those particles moving freely, micro-organisms with natural affinity ligands such as virus-binding proteins would affect the fate of viruses in environment, if such microbial affinity ligands exist. The aim of this study is to identify norovirus-binding proteins (NoVBPs) that are presumably working as natural ligands for norovirus particles in water environments.
  
  
  RESULTS
  NoVBPs were recovered from activated sludge micro-organisms by an affinity chromatography technique in which a capsid peptide of norovirus genogroup II (GII) was immobilized. The recovered NoVBPs bind to norovirus-like particles (NoVLPs) of norovirus GII, and this adsorption was stronger than that to NoVLPs of norovirus genogroup I. The profile of two-dimensional electrophoresis of NoVBPs showed that the recovered NoVBPs included at least seven spots of protein. The determination of N-terminal amino acid sequences of these NoVBPs revealed that hydrophobic interactions could contribute to the adsorption between NoVBPs and norovirus particles.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  NoVBPs conferring a high affinity to norovirus GII were successfully isolated from activated sludge micro-organisms.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  NoVBPs could be natural viral ligands and play an important role in the NoV transmission.
authors.affiliation: Division of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Japan. dsano@eng.hokudai.ac.jp
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sano
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wada
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Imai
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Masago
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Omura
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D036022:Capsid Proteins / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D002846:Chromatography, Affinity; D015180:Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D055767:Immobilized Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D008024:Ligands; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D029322:Norovirus / Q000378:metabolism*; D011485:Protein Binding; D020539:Sequence Analysis, Protein; D012722:Sewage / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000821:virology
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D036022:Capsid Proteins; D055767:Immobilized Proteins; D008024:Ligands; D012722:Sewage