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Assays for the Specific Growth Rate and Cell-binding Ability of Rotavirus
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Assays for the Specific Growth Rate and Cell-binding Ability of Rotavirus

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Characterization of rotavirus cell entry

Claudia Sánchez-San Martín1, Tomás López, Carlos F Arias

  • 1Departamento de Genética del Desarrollo y Fisiología Molecular, Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cuernavaca, Morelos 62210, Mexico.

Journal of Virology
|February 14, 2004
PubMed

Insights

Rotaviruses enter cells using a mechanism dependent on cholesterol and dynamin, not clathrin-mediated or caveolae-mediated endocytosis. This finding clarifies rotavirus cell entry pathways.

Area of Science:

  • Virology
  • Cell Biology
  • Molecular Biology

Background:

  • Rotavirus attachment to host cells is understood, but the entry mechanism remains unclear.
  • Endocytosis pathways like clathrin-mediated and caveolae-mediated endocytosis are critical for cellular uptake.
  • Understanding viral entry is crucial for developing antiviral strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the endocytic pathway utilized by rotaviruses for cell entry.
  • To determine the roles of clathrin-mediated endocytosis, caveolae-mediated endocytosis, cholesterol, and dynamin in rotavirus infection.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized pharmacological inhibitors and dominant-negative mutants to block specific endocytic pathways.
  • Tested the effect of inhibiting clathrin-mediated endocytosis using compounds and Eps15 mutants.
  • Assessed the impact of blocking caveolae-mediated uptake with cholesterol-binding agents and caveolin mutants.
  • Investigated the role of cholesterol and dynamin by using methyl-beta-cyclodextrin and dynamin mutants.

Main Results:

  • Rotaviruses successfully infected cells when clathrin-mediated endocytosis was inhibited.
  • Blocking caveolae-mediated uptake did not affect rotavirus infection.
  • Inhibition of cholesterol and dynamin function prevented rotavirus entry into cells.

Conclusions:

  • Rotavirus cell entry is independent of clathrin-mediated and caveolae-mediated endocytosis.
  • Cholesterol and dynamin are essential for rotavirus internalization into host cells.
  • These findings provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms of rotavirus infection.

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