Viral Entry News Today

Viruses can get into cells in several ways. Figuring out how to stop them from entering in the first place is a key to developing better vaccines and stopping future pandemics.

Cell entry of most alphaherpesviruses is mediated by the binding of glycoprotein D (gD) to different cell surface receptors. Equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) and EHV-4 gDs interact with equine major histocompatibility complex I (MHC-I) to initiate entry into equine cells. We have characterized the gD-MHC-I interaction by solving the crystal structures of EHV-1 and EHV-4 gDs (gD1, gD4), performing protein-protein docking simulations, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) analysis, and biological assay...

2Laboratory for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium 3ProGenTomics, Ghent, Belgium 4Laboratory of Proteinscience, Proteomics and Epigenetic Signaling, Faculty of Pharmaceutical, Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium 5Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an arbovirus with a global spread and significant public health impact. It is a positive stranded RNA alphaviru...

February 15, 2021 -- Researchers have identified interactions between short viral proteins and receptors that facilitate the entry of the SARS-CoV-2 virus into a host. This evidence of molecular links, published in Science Signaling on February 12, may help scientists identify drugs that are highly effective at blocking the virus. SARS-CoV-2 uses the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) as a receptor to attach to host cells. ACE2 is a single-pass type I membrane protein with a short cytosoli...