This Article Full Text (PDF) Other Versions of this Article: JVI.01415-07v1 81/23/13149    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Hasegawa, K. Articles by Peng, K.-W. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Hasegawa, K. Articles by Peng, K.-W.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

J. Virol. doi:10.1128/JVI.01415-07
Copyright (c) 2007, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

Affinity thresholds for membrane fusion triggering by viral glycoproteins

Molecular Medicine Program, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN 55905, USA; Department of Anesthesia, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94110, USA

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: peng.kah{at}mayo.edu.

	Abstract

Enveloped viruses trigger membrane fusion to gain entry into cells. The receptor affinities of their attachment proteins vary greatly, from 10^-4 M to 10^-9 M, but the significance of this is unknown. Using six retargeted measles viruses that bind to Her-2/neu with a 5-log range in affinity, we show that receptor affinity has little impact on virus attachment but is nevertheless a key determinant of infectivity and intercellular fusion. For a given cell surface receptor density, there is an affinity threshold above which cell-cell fusion proceeds efficiently. Suprathreshold affinities do not further enhance the efficiency of membrane fusion.