Selection Pressure in the Human Adenovirus Fiber Knob Drives Cell Specificity in Epidemic Keratoconjunctivitis.

ABSTRACT: Human adenoviruses (HAdVs) contain seven species (HAdV-A to -G), each associated with specific disease conditions. Among these, HAdV-D includes those viruses associated with epidemic keratoconjunctivitis (EKC), a severe ocular surface infection. The reasons for corneal tropism for some but not all HAdV-Ds are not known. The fiber protein is a major capsid protein; its C-terminal "knob" mediates binding with host cell receptors to facilitate subsequent viral entry. In a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of HAdV-D capsid genes, fiber knob gene sequences of HAdV-D types associated with EKC formed a unique clade. By proteotyping analysis, EKC virus-associated fiber knobs were uniquely shared. Comparative structural modeling showed no distinct variations in fiber knobs of EKC types but did sh

SUBMITTER: Ismail AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5068513 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature