This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Cosset, F.-L.
Right arrow Articles by Bartosch, B.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Cosset, F.-L.
Right arrow Articles by Bartosch, B.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Virology, April 2009, p. 3228-3237, Vol. 83, No. 7
0022-538X/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.01711-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Characterization of Lassa Virus Cell Entry and Neutralization with Lassa Virus Pseudoparticles{triangledown}

François-Loic Cosset,1*,{dagger} Philippe Marianneau,2,{dagger} Geraldine Verney,1 Fabrice Gallais,2 Noel Tordo,2 Eve-Isabelle Pécheur,3 Jan ter Meulen,4 Vincent Deubel,2,5 and Birke Bartosch1

Université de Lyon, UCB-Lyon 1, IFR128, INSERM, U758, and Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, Lyon F-69007, France,1 Unité de Biologie des Infections Virales Emergentes, Institut Pasteur, IFR 128 BioSciences Gerland, Lyon Sud, Lyon, France,2 Institut de Biologie et Chimie des Protéines, CNRS, UMR 5086, Université Lyon 1, IFR 128 BioSciences Gerland, Lyon Sud, Lyon, France,3 Institute of Virology, Philipps University, Marburg, Germany,4 Institut Pasteur of Shanghai, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China5

Received 12 August 2008/ Accepted 28 December 2008

The cell entry and humoral immune response of the human pathogen Lassa virus (LV), a biosafety level 4 (BSL4) Old World arenavirus, are not well characterized. LV pseudoparticles (LVpp) are a surrogate model system that has been used to decipher factors and routes involved in LV cell entry under BSL2 conditions. Here, we describe LVpp, which are highly infectious, with titers approaching those obtained with pseudoparticles displaying G protein of vesicular stomatitis virus and their the use for the characterization of LV cell entry and neutralization. Upon cell attachment, LVpp utilize endocytic vesicles for cell entry as described for many pH-dependent viruses. However, the fusion of the LV glycoproteins is activated at unusually low pH values, with optimal fusion occurring between pH 4.5 and 3, a pH range at which fusion characteristics of viral glycoproteins have so far remained largely unexplored. Consistent with a shifted pH optimum for fusion activation, we found wild-type LV and LVpp to display a remarkable resistance to exposure to low pH. Finally, LVpp allow the fast and quantifiable detection of neutralizing antibodies in human and animal sera and will thus facilitate the study of the humoral immune response in LV infections.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Human Virology Department, INSERM U758, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, 46 allée d'Italie, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07, France. Phone: 33 472 72 87 32. Fax: 33 472 72 81 37. E-mail: flcosset{at}ens-lyon.fr

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 19 January 2009.

{dagger} F.-L.C. and P.M. contributed equally to the work.

Journal of Virology, April 2009, p. 3228-3237, Vol. 83, No. 7
0022-538X/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.01711-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»