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Role of endocytosis on human metapneumovirus entry
Author(s) -
Chang Andres,
Schowalter Rachel M.,
Dutch Rebecca Ellis
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.23.1_supplement.686.1
Subject(s) - human metapneumovirus , endocytosis , metapneumovirus , virology , endosome , viral entry , biology , proteases , microbiology and biotechnology , respiratory system , virus , cell , biochemistry , respiratory tract infections , viral replication , enzyme , anatomy , intracellular
Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) is a significant cause of respiratory infections in children, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals. Our lab recently demonstrated that HMPV differs from other members of the paramyxoviridae family in that a low pH stimulated HMPV F protein‐mediated cell‐cell fusion. This suggested a role of endocytosis as a mechanism of entry for this virus. In this study, we examined the effects of inhibitors of endosomal acidification or endocytosis on entry of a recombinant GFP‐expressing HMPV. Chemicals that increase endosomal pH resulted in a 30‐50% decrease in infection whereas infection in the presence of the dynamin inhibitor dynasore was decreased by up to 90%. Furthermore, HMPV infection was not affected by the presence of several protease inhibitors including E64D, suggesting that the low pH requirement for HMPV entry is not due to the need of low pH‐stimulated endosomal/lysosomal proteases. This suggests that, unlike what has been hypothesized for most paramyxoviruses, HMPV utilizes endocytosis for entry. This research was supported by research grant 1R21AI074783‐01 from the National Institutes of Health.