Polysialic acid is a cellular receptor for human adenovirus 52

Authors: Annasara Lenman, A. Manuel Liaci, Yan Liu, Lars Frängsmyr, Martin Frank, Bärbel S. Blaum, Wengang Chai, Iva I. Podgorski, Balázs Harrach, Mária Benkő, Ten Feizi, Thilo Stehle, Niklas Arnberg - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, PNAS 2018 cited by 93

Significance We present here that adenovirus type 52 (HAdV-52) attaches to target cells through a mechanism not previously observed in other human pathogenic viruses. The interaction involves unusual, transient, electrostatic interactions between the short fiber capsid protein and polysialic acid (polySia)-containing receptors on target cells. Knowledge about the binding interactions between polySia and its natural ligands is relatively limited, and our results therefore provide additional insight not only into adenovirus biology but also into the structural basis of polySia function. Since polySia can be found in high expression levels in brain and lung cancers where its presence is associated with poor prognosis, we suggest that this polySia-binding adenovirus could be useful for design of vectors for gene therapy of these cancers.