Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 17, 2026
10:49
Assays for the Specific Growth Rate and Cell-binding Ability of Rotavirus
Published on: January 28, 2019
Gangliosides have a functional role during rotavirus cell entry
Miguel Angel Martínez1, Susana López, Carlos F Arias
1Departamento de Genética del Desarrollo y Fisiología Molecular, Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico.
Journal of Virology
|November 9, 2012
Summary
Rotaviruses need gangliosides for cell entry, not just attachment. Inhibiting ganglioside synthesis reduces rotavirus infectivity, confirming their essential role in viral cell entry.
Area of Science:
- Virology
- Cell Biology
- Glycobiology
Background:
- Rotaviruses are a leading cause of diarrheal disease in infants.
- Cell entry is a critical step in rotavirus infection.
- Gangliosides, glycosphingolipids with sialic acid residues, are implicated in viral cell entry.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the functional role of gangliosides in rotavirus cell entry.
- To determine if gangliosides are required for rotavirus attachment or entry.
- To assess the impact of impaired ganglioside synthesis on rotavirus infectivity.
Main Methods:
- Silencing key enzymes (UGCG and GM3-s) involved in ganglioside biosynthesis.
- Assessing ganglioside levels using GM1a detection.
- Measuring rotavirus infectivity and viral binding to cells.
- Preincubating viruses with gangliosides before infection.
Main Results:
- Silencing UGCG and GM3-s decreased ganglioside levels.
- Impaired ganglioside synthesis reduced infectivity of four rotavirus strains.
- Viral binding was unaffected, but infectivity was inhibited by ganglioside-virus preincubation.
- Replication post-entry was not affected by ganglioside synthesis inhibition.
Conclusions:
- Gangliosides are essential for productive rotavirus cell entry, not just initial attachment.
- Rotaviruses can bind to cell surfaces lacking gangliosides.
- Gangliosides play a crucial functional role in mediating rotavirus entry into host cells.
Related Concept Videos
01:38Intralumenal Vesicles and Multivesicular Bodies
Intraluminal vesicles (ILVs) are small vesicles 50-80 nm in diameter formed during the maturation of early endosomes. A specialized endosome containing numerous ILVs is called a multivesicular body (MVB). ILVs contain internalized molecules such as antigens, nucleic acids, proteins, and metabolites. Some of these molecules are released from the MVBs inside exosomes and are transported to other cells. Other MVBs contain molecules that are retained in the ILVs and are later degraded within the...
01:14Rab Proteins
Rab proteins constitute the largest family of monomeric GTPases, of which 70 members are present in humans. Rab proteins and their effectors regulate consecutive stages of vesicle transport such as vesicle transport, docking, and fusion to the correct recipient membrane.
Rab proteins switch between a cytosolic, GDP-bound inactive state and a membrane-anchored, GTP-bound active state. By themselves, Rabs show slow rates of GDP/GTP exchange and GTP hydrolysis. Thus, Rab proteins are considered...
Rab proteins switch between a cytosolic, GDP-bound inactive state and a membrane-anchored, GTP-bound active state. By themselves, Rabs show slow rates of GDP/GTP exchange and GTP hydrolysis. Thus, Rab proteins are considered...
01:33Coat Assembly and GTPases
Vesicles incorporate different coat protein subunits in different cell locations, which changes the properties of the coat, such as the shape and geometry of the transport vesicles. Thus, vesicle coat proteins also play a significant role in cargo selection.
Coat assembly depends on the local availability of phosphatidylinositol phosphates or PIPs and GTP-binding proteins. Adaptor proteins, which link the coat proteins to the membrane, bind to these PIPs and play a crucial role in controlling...
Coat assembly depends on the local availability of phosphatidylinositol phosphates or PIPs and GTP-binding proteins. Adaptor proteins, which link the coat proteins to the membrane, bind to these PIPs and play a crucial role in controlling...
01:10Intracellular Movement of Viruses and Bacteria
Intracellular bacteria and viruses often comprise a group of highly infectious pathogens that can cause several diseases. Bacterial pathogens include those belonging to the genus Rickettsia responsible for conditions such as rocky mountain spotted fever and the Mediterranean spotted fever; Chlamydia, a genus responsible for a sexually transmitted disease; Coxiella burnetii, an agent responsible for Q fever. Viral pathogens include vaccinia—a poxvirus, and herpes simplex virus—a virus that...
00:56Viral Structure
Viruses are extraordinarily diverse in shape and size, but they all have several structural features in common. All viruses have a core that contains a DNA- or RNA-based genome. The core is surrounded by a protective coat of proteins called the capsid. The capsid is composed of subunits called capsomeres. The capsid and genome-containing core are together known as the nucleocapsid.
02:28Leaky Scanning
During most eukaryotic translation processes, the small 40S ribosome subunit scans an mRNA from its 5' end until it encounters the first start AUG codon. The large 60S ribosomal subunit then joins the smaller one to initiate protein synthesis. The location of the translation initiation is largely determined by the nucleotides near the start codon as there may be multiple translation initiation sites present on the mRNA. Marilyn Kozak discovered that the sequence RCCAUGG (where R stands for...