Skip to main content
Journal of Virology logoLink to Journal of Virology
. 1996 Apr;70(4):2632–2636. doi: 10.1128/jvi.70.4.2632-2636.1996

Analysis of the receptor-binding site of murine coronavirus spike protein.

H Suzuki 1, F Taguchi 1
PMCID: PMC190114  PMID: 8642698

Abstract

It has been found that a domain composed of 330 amino acids of the N terminus of murine coronavirus spike protein [S1N(330)] is involved in receptor-binding activity (H. Kubo, Y.K. Yamada, and F. Taguchi, J. Virol. 68:5403-5410, 1994). To delineate the amino acid sequences involved in receptor-binding activity, we have compared the S1N(330) proteins of seven different mouse hepatitis virus MHV strains that are able to utilize the MHV receptor protein. Three conserved regions (sites I, II, and III) were found to consist of more than 10 identical amino acids, and they were analyzed for receptor-binding activity by site-directed mutagenesis. S1N(330) with a substitution at position 62 from the N terminus of S1 in region I and that with substitutions at positions 212, 214, and 216 in region II showed no receptor-binding activity. The S1N(330) mutants without receptor-binding activity were not able to prevent virus binding to the receptor. These results suggest that the receptor-binding site on S1N(330) is composed of regions located apart from each other in the protein's primary structure, in which Thr at position 62 as well as amino acids located at positions 212, 214, and 216 are particularly important.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (287.6 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Deng W. P., Nickoloff J. A. Site-directed mutagenesis of virtually any plasmid by eliminating a unique site. Anal Biochem. 1992 Jan;200(1):81–88. doi: 10.1016/0003-2697(92)90280-k. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Dveksler G. S., Dieffenbach C. W., Cardellichio C. B., McCuaig K., Pensiero M. N., Jiang G. S., Beauchemin N., Holmes K. V. Several members of the mouse carcinoembryonic antigen-related glycoprotein family are functional receptors for the coronavirus mouse hepatitis virus-A59. J Virol. 1993 Jan;67(1):1–8. doi: 10.1128/jvi.67.1.1-8.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Dveksler G. S., Pensiero M. N., Cardellichio C. B., Williams R. K., Jiang G. S., Holmes K. V., Dieffenbach C. W. Cloning of the mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) receptor: expression in human and hamster cell lines confers susceptibility to MHV. J Virol. 1991 Dec;65(12):6881–6891. doi: 10.1128/jvi.65.12.6881-6891.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Dveksler G. S., Pensiero M. N., Dieffenbach C. W., Cardellichio C. B., Basile A. A., Elia P. E., Holmes K. V. Mouse hepatitis virus strain A59 and blocking antireceptor monoclonal antibody bind to the N-terminal domain of cellular receptor. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1993 Mar 1;90(5):1716–1720. doi: 10.1073/pnas.90.5.1716. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Fuerst T. R., Earl P. L., Moss B. Use of a hybrid vaccinia virus-T7 RNA polymerase system for expression of target genes. Mol Cell Biol. 1987 Jul;7(7):2538–2544. doi: 10.1128/mcb.7.7.2538. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Fuerst T. R., Niles E. G., Studier F. W., Moss B. Eukaryotic transient-expression system based on recombinant vaccinia virus that synthesizes bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1986 Nov;83(21):8122–8126. doi: 10.1073/pnas.83.21.8122. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Hirano N., Murakami T., Taguchi F., Fujiwara K., Matumoto M. Comparison of mouse hepatitis virus strains for pathogenicity in weanling mice infected by various routes. Arch Virol. 1981;70(1):69–73. doi: 10.1007/BF01320795. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Kubo H., Taguchi F. Expression of the S1 and S2 subunits of murine coronavirus JHMV spike protein by a vaccinia virus transient expression system. J Gen Virol. 1993 Nov;74(Pt 11):2373–2383. doi: 10.1099/0022-1317-74-11-2373. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Kubo H., Takase-Yoden S., Taguchi F. Neutralization and fusion inhibition activities of monoclonal antibodies specific for the S1 subunit of the spike protein of neurovirulent murine coronavirus JHMV c1-2 variant. J Gen Virol. 1993 Jul;74(Pt 7):1421–1425. doi: 10.1099/0022-1317-74-7-1421. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Kubo H., Yamada Y. K., Taguchi F. Localization of neutralizing epitopes and the receptor-binding site within the amino-terminal 330 amino acids of the murine coronavirus spike protein. J Virol. 1994 Sep;68(9):5403–5410. doi: 10.1128/jvi.68.9.5403-5410.1994. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Luytjes W., Sturman L. S., Bredenbeek P. J., Charite J., van der Zeijst B. A., Horzinek M. C., Spaan W. J. Primary structure of the glycoprotein E2 of coronavirus MHV-A59 and identification of the trypsin cleavage site. Virology. 1987 Dec;161(2):479–487. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(87)90142-5. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. McCuaig K., Rosenberg M., Nédellec P., Turbide C., Beauchemin N. Expression of the Bgp gene and characterization of mouse colon biliary glycoprotein isoforms. Gene. 1993 May 30;127(2):173–183. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(93)90716-G. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Rossmann M. G., Arnold E., Erickson J. W., Frankenberger E. A., Griffith J. P., Hecht H. J., Johnson J. E., Kamer G., Luo M., Mosser A. G. Structure of a human common cold virus and functional relationship to other picornaviruses. Nature. 1985 Sep 12;317(6033):145–153. doi: 10.1038/317145a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Siddell S., Wege H., Ter Meulen V. The biology of coronaviruses. J Gen Virol. 1983 Apr;64(Pt 4):761–776. doi: 10.1099/0022-1317-64-4-761. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Spaan W., Cavanagh D., Horzinek M. C. Coronaviruses: structure and genome expression. J Gen Virol. 1988 Dec;69(Pt 12):2939–2952. doi: 10.1099/0022-1317-69-12-2939. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Sturman L. S., Holmes K. V. Proteolytic cleavage of peplomeric glycoprotein E2 of MHV yields two 90K subunits and activates cell fusion. Adv Exp Med Biol. 1984;173:25–35. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4615-9373-7_3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Taguchi F., Fleming J. O. Comparison of six different murine coronavirus JHM variants by monoclonal antibodies against the E2 glycoprotein. Virology. 1989 Mar;169(1):233–235. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(89)90061-5. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Taguchi F. Fusion formation by the uncleaved spike protein of murine coronavirus JHMV variant cl-2. J Virol. 1993 Mar;67(3):1195–1202. doi: 10.1128/jvi.67.3.1195-1202.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Taguchi F., Ikeda T., Shida H. Molecular cloning and expression of a spike protein of neurovirulent murine coronavirus JHMV variant cl-2. J Gen Virol. 1992 May;73(Pt 5):1065–1072. doi: 10.1099/0022-1317-73-5-1065. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Taguchi F., Siddell S. G., Wege H., ter Meulen V. Characterization of a variant virus selected in rat brains after infection by coronavirus mouse hepatitis virus JHM. J Virol. 1985 May;54(2):429–435. doi: 10.1128/jvi.54.2.429-435.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Taguchi F. The S2 subunit of the murine coronavirus spike protein is not involved in receptor binding. J Virol. 1995 Nov;69(11):7260–7263. doi: 10.1128/jvi.69.11.7260-7263.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Taguchi F., Yamada A., Fujiwara K. Resistance to highly virulent mouse hepatitis virus acquired by mice after low-virulence infection: enhanced antiviral activity of macrophages. Infect Immun. 1980 Jul;29(1):42–49. doi: 10.1128/iai.29.1.42-49.1980. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Takebe Y., Seiki M., Fujisawa J., Hoy P., Yokota K., Arai K., Yoshida M., Arai N. SR alpha promoter: an efficient and versatile mammalian cDNA expression system composed of the simian virus 40 early promoter and the R-U5 segment of human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 long terminal repeat. Mol Cell Biol. 1988 Jan;8(1):466–472. doi: 10.1128/mcb.8.1.466. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Wege H., Siddell S., ter Meulen V. The biology and pathogenesis of coronaviruses. Curr Top Microbiol Immunol. 1982;99:165–200. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-68528-6_5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Williams R. K., Jiang G. S., Holmes K. V. Receptor for mouse hepatitis virus is a member of the carcinoembryonic antigen family of glycoproteins. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1991 Jul 1;88(13):5533–5536. doi: 10.1073/pnas.88.13.5533. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Yamada Y. K., Yabe M., Yamada A., Taguchi F. Detection of mouse hepatitis virus by the polymerase chain reaction and its application to the rapid diagnosis of infection. Lab Anim Sci. 1993 Aug;43(4):285–290. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Yokomori K., Lai M. M. Mouse hepatitis virus utilizes two carcinoembryonic antigens as alternative receptors. J Virol. 1992 Oct;66(10):6194–6199. doi: 10.1128/jvi.66.10.6194-6199.1992. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. de Groot R. J., Luytjes W., Horzinek M. C., van der Zeijst B. A., Spaan W. J., Lenstra J. A. Evidence for a coiled-coil structure in the spike proteins of coronaviruses. J Mol Biol. 1987 Aug 20;196(4):963–966. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(87)90422-0. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Virology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES