G. Kaplan et al., IDENTIFICATION OF A SURFACE GLYCOPROTEIN ON AFRICAN-GREEN MONKEY KIDNEY-CELLS AS A RECEPTOR FOR HEPATITIS-A VIRUS, EMBO journal, 15(16), 1996, pp. 4282-4296
Very little is known about the mechanism of cell entry of hepatitis A
virus (HAV), and the identification of cellular receptors for this pic
ornavirus has been elusive. Here we describe the molecular cloning of
a cellular receptor for HAV using protective monoclonal antibodies rai
sed against susceptible African green monkey kidney (AGMK) cells as pr
obes, Monoclonal antibodies 190/4, 235/4 and 263/6, which reacted agai
nst similar epitopes, specifically protected AGMK cells against HAV in
fection by blocking the binding of HAV, Expression; cloning and nucleo
tide sequence analysis of the cDNA coding for epitope 190/4 revealed a
novel mucin-like class I integral membrane glycoprotein of 451 amino
acids, the HAV cellular receptor 1 (HAV cr-1). Immunofluorescence anal
;sis indicated that mouse Ltk(-) cells transfected with HAV cr-1 cDNA
gained Limited susceptibility to HAV infection, which was blocked by t
reatment with monoclonal antibody 190/4, Our results demonstrate that
the HAV cr-1 polypeptide is an attachment receptor for HAV and strongl
y suggest that it is also a functional receptor which mediates HAV inf
ection, This report constitutes the first identification of a cellular
receptor for HAV.