Antibody Evasion by a Gammaherpesvirus O-Glycan Shield

PLoS Pathogens

Jan Mast¹  Philip G. Stevenson²  Antoine Guillaume³  Laurent Gillet³  Céline Lété³  Alain Vanderplasschen³  Bénédicte Machiels³ 

[1] Department Biocontrole, Research Unit Electron Microscopy, Veterinary and Agrochemical Research Centre, CODA-CERVA, Groeselenberg, Ukkel, Belgium;Division of Virology, Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom;Immunology-Vaccinology (B43b), Department of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases (B43b), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium

关键词: Virions;    Antibodies;    Antigens;    Enzyme-linked immunoassays;    Cell staining;    Epstein-Barr virus;    Herpesviruses;    Glycoproteins;   

DOI  :  10.1371/journal.ppat.1002387

学科分类：生物科学（综合）

来源: Public Library of Science

【 摘 要 】

All gammaherpesviruses encode a major glycoprotein homologous to the Epstein-Barr virus gp350. These glycoproteins are often involved in cell binding, and some provide neutralization targets. However, the capacity of gammaherpesviruses for long-term transmission from immune hosts implies that in vivo neutralization is incomplete. In this study, we used Bovine Herpesvirus 4 (BoHV-4) to determine how its gp350 homolog - gp180 - contributes to virus replication and neutralization. A lack of gp180 had no impact on the establishment and maintenance of BoHV-4 latency, but markedly sensitized virions to neutralization by immune sera. Antibody had greater access to gB, gH and gL on gp180-deficient virions, including neutralization epitopes. Gp180 appears to be highly O-glycosylated, and removing O-linked glycans from virions also sensitized them to neutralization. It therefore appeared that gp180 provides part of a glycan shield for otherwise vulnerable viral epitopes. Interestingly, this O-glycan shield could be exploited for neutralization by lectins and carbohydrate-specific antibody. The conservation of O-glycosylation sites in all gp350 homologs suggests that this is a general evasion mechanism that may also provide a therapeutic target.

【 授权许可】

CC BY