Involvement of carbohydrates in vesicular stomatitis virus-cell early interaction

The role of N-acetylneuraminic acid and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine containing molecules in vesicular stomatitis virus-cell interaction was studied using specific lectins (limulin and wheat germ agglutinin) and esoglycosidases (neuraminidase, beta-galactosidase, alpha-mannosidase, alpha-fucosidase, beta-N-acetyl-D-glucosaminidase). Lectin treatment of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) indicated that carbohydrates of the VSV G envelope glycoprotein were not required for virus infectivity, whereas sialic acid appeared directly involved in the attachment of virus to erythrocytes. The comparative results obtained after enzymatic digestion of cell membrane carbohydrates or their cross linking by lectins demonstrated that whereas VSV infectivity was strongly reduced by pretreatment of chick embryo cells, virus binding to erythrocytes was unaffected by such treatments. We conclude that sugar residues may participate at the host cell attachment site which differs, at least in part, from the membrane binding site of erythrocytes.