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Journal of Virology, May 2008, p. 4630-4637, Vol. 82, No. 9
0022-538X/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.02691-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Measles Virus Infects both Polarized Epithelial and Immune Cells by Using Distinctive Receptor-Binding Sites on Its Hemagglutinin{triangledown}

Maino Tahara, Makoto Takeda,* Yuta Shirogane, Takao Hashiguchi, Shinji Ohno, and Yusuke Yanagi

Department of Virology, Faculty of Medicine, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan

Received 19 December 2007/ Accepted 12 February 2008

Measles is one of the most contagious human infectious diseases and remains a major cause of childhood morbidity and mortality worldwide. The signaling lymphocyte activation molecule (SLAM), also called CD150, is a cellular receptor for measles virus (MV), presumably accounting for its tropism for immune cells and its immunosuppressive properties. On the other hand, pathological studies have shown that MV also infects epithelial cells at a later stage of infection, although its mechanism has so far been unknown. In this study, we show that wild-type MV can infect and produce syncytia in human polarized epithelial cell lines independently of SLAM and CD46 (a receptor for the vaccine strains of MV). Progeny viral particles are released exclusively from the apical surface of these polarized epithelial cell lines. We have also identified amino acid residues on the MV attachment protein that are likely to interact with a putative receptor on epithelial cells. All of these residues have aromatic side chains and may form a receptor-binding pocket located in a different position from the putative SLAM- and CD46-binding sites on the MV attachment protein. Thus, our results indicate that MV has an intrinsic ability to infect both polarized epithelial and immune cells by using distinctive receptor-binding sites on the attachment protein corresponding to each of their respective receptors. The ability of MV to infect polarized epithelial cells and its exclusive release from the apical surface may facilitate its efficient transmission via aerosol droplets, resulting in its highly contagious nature.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Virology, Faculty of Medicine, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan. Phone: 81-92-642-6138. Fax: 81-92-642-6140. E-mail: mtakeda{at}virology.med.kyushu-u.ac.jp

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 20 February 2008.

Journal of Virology, May 2008, p. 4630-4637, Vol. 82, No. 9
0022-538X/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.02691-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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