HEPARIN-BINDING ACTIVITY OF FELINE HERPESVIRUS TYPE-1 GLYCOPROTEINS

Feline herpesvirus type 1 (FHV-1) possesses a very narrow host range, but the mechanism of its infection has not yet been analyzed. Heparan sulfate on the cell surface serves as a receptor for several herpesvir uses. In this study, we determined that infection of FHV-1 is inhibite d by addition of soluble heparin in cells cultures. Using heparin-affi nity column, it was shown that FHV-1 gC is a major heparin-binding pro tein, and FHV-1 gB weakly binds to heparin, but FHV-1 go does not. Fur thermore, the FHV-1 gC expressed in insect cells can also bind to hepa rin despite of being immature glycosylation. Our results suggested tha t FHV-1 gC can bind to heparin as observed in other herpesviruses and that glycosylation of the gC does not affect its heparin-binding activ ity. In addition, mice immunized with the gC expressed in insect cells produced complement-dependent virus-neutralizing antibody. (C) 1997 E lsevier Science B.V.