Respiratory syncytial virus receptor expression in the mouse and viral tropism.
Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infects airway epithelium and can cause serious illnesses such as bronchiolitis and pneumonia. With the discovery of cell-surface nucleolin as a fusion receptor for RSV, the question arose as to whether nucleolin could explain RSV tropism in vivo. Here, we report the distribution of cell-surface nucleolin expression in tissues of normal mice and how this distribution of expression relates to what is known about RSV tropism and its clinical manifestations. Our results show evidence of cell-surface nucleolin expression in the respiratory tract. In addition, cell-surface nucleolin is expressed in tissues outside of the respiratory tract, many of which correspond to previous reports of tissue-specific RSV infection, and others that may allude to additional potential sites for RSV infection in vivo. Furthermore, our work provides a foundation for the investigation of nucleolin's physiological function in various healthy mammalian tissues.
Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Aria
A
Shakeri
Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Peter
P
Mastrangelo
Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Disease, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Jennifer K
JK
Griffin
Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, and Department of Paediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Theo J
TJ
Moraes
Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, and Department of Paediatric Laboratory Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. richard.hegele@utoronto.ca.
Richard G
RG
Hegele
D000818:Animals; D051379:Mice; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D018357:Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections / Q000378:metabolism / Q000821:virology*; D012136:Respiratory Syncytial Viruses / Q000502:physiology*; D056189:Viral Tropism / Q000502:physiology*; D000097796:Nucleolin
D010750:Phosphoproteins; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; D000097796:Nucleolin