Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 14, 2026

Tractable Mammalian Cell Infections with Protozoan-primed Bacteria
Published on: April 2, 2013
Folate receptor-alpha is a cofactor for cellular entry by Marburg and Ebola viruses
S Y Chan1, C J Empig, F J Welte
1Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology, San Francisco, CA 94141, USA.
Abstract:
Human infections by Marburg (MBG) and Ebola (EBO) viruses result in lethal hemorrhagic fever. To identify cellular entry factors employed by MBG virus, noninfectible cells transduced with an expression library were challenged with a selectable pseudotype virus packaged by MBG glycoproteins (GP). A cDNA encoding the folate receptor-alpha (FR-alpha) was recovered from cells exhibiting reconstitution of viral entry. A FR-alpha cDNA was recovered in a similar strategy employing EBO pseudotypes. FR-alpha expression in Jurkat cells facilitated MBG or EBO entry, and FR-blocking reagents inhibited infection by MBG or EBO. Finally, FR-alpha bound cells expressing MBG or EBO GP and mediated syncytia formation triggered by MBG GP. Thus, FR-alpha is a significant cofactor for cellular entry for MBG and EBO viruses.
Related Concept Videos
Amyloid Fibrils
Amyloid deposits were observed as early as 1639 in the liver and the spleen. In 1854, Rudolph Virchow performed iodine staining, normally used to...
GPCRs Regulate Adenylyl Cylase Activity
Two...
Determinants of Bacterial Pathogenicity and Virulence
Poliomyelitis
Coronavirus
Amebiasis

