[Infection mechanism of enterovirus 71]

Identification of a specific viral receptor is important for understanding the virus infection mechanism. I identified P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 (PSGL-1) as one of the functional receptors for enterovirus 71 (EV71), a pathogen that causes hand, foot, and mouth disease. PSGL-1, which belongs to the sialomucin family, is a transmembrane protein mainly expressed on leukocytes. Tyrosine sulfation in the N-terminal region of PSGL-1 is critical for PSGL-1's capacity to bind EV71. The identification of EV71 receptors provides important mechanistic information about viral entry into cells and helps us understand viral pathogenesis and develop new anti-viral strategies.