N-linked glycosylation facilitates sialic acid-independent attachment and entry of influenza A viruses into cells expressing DC-SIGN or L-SIGN.

ABSTRACT: It is widely recognized that sialic acid (SA) can mediate attachment of influenza virus to the cell surface, and yet the specific receptors that mediate virus entry are not known. For many viruses, a definitive demonstration of receptor function has been achieved when nonpermissive cells are rendered susceptible to infection following transfection of the gene encoding a putative receptor. For influenza virus, such approaches have been confounded by the abundance of SA on mammalian cells so that it has been difficult to identify cell lines that are not susceptible to infection. We examined influenza virus infection of Lec2 Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, a mutant cell line deficient in SA. Lec2 CHO cells were resistant to influenza virus infection, and stable cell lines expressing either

SUBMITTER: Londrigan SL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3067946 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature