Viral infections are initiated by attachment of the virus to host cell surface receptors, including sialic acid-containing glycans. It is now possible to rapidly identify specific glycan receptors using glycan array screening, to define atomic-level structures of virus–glycan complexes and to alter the glycan-binding site to determine the function of glycan engagement in viral disease. This Review highlights general principles of virus–glycan interactions and provides specific examples of sialic acid binding by viruses with stalk-like attachment proteins, including influenza virus, reovirus, adenovirus and rotavirus. Understanding virus–glycan interactions is essential to combating viral infections and designing improved viral vectors for therapeutic applications.

The guanine nucleotide-binding protein Ras exists in solution in two different conformational states when complexed with different GTP analogs such as GppNHp or GppCH 2 p. State 1 has only a very low affinity to effectors and seems to be recognized by guanine nucleotide exchange factors, whereas state 2 represents the high affinity effector binding state. In this work we investigate Ras in complex with the physiological nucleoside triphosphate GTP. By polarization transfer 31 P NMR experiments and effector binding studies we show that Ras(wt)⅐Mg 2؉ ⅐GTP also exists in a dynamical equilibrium between the weakly populated conformational state 1 and the dominant state 2. At 278 K the equilibrium constant between state 1 and state 2 of C-terminal truncated wild-type Ras(1-166) K 12 is 11.3. K 12 of full-length Ras is >20, suggesting that the C terminus may also have a regulatory effect on the conformational equilibrium. The exchange rate (k ex ) for Ras(wt)⅐Mg 2؉ ⅐GTP is 7 s ؊1 and thus 18-fold lower compared with that found for the Ras⅐GppNHp complex. The intrinsic GTPase activity substantially increases after effector binding for the switch I mutants Ras(Y32F), (Y32R), (Y32W), (Y32C/ C118S), (T35S), and the switch II mutant Ras(G60A) by stabilizing state 2, with the largest effect on Ras(Y32R) with a 13-fold increase compared with wild-type. In contrast, no acceleration was observed in Ras(T35A). Thus Ras in conformational state 2 has a higher affinity to effectors as well as a higher GTPase activity. These observations can be used to explain why many mutants have a low GTPase activity but are not oncogenic.The guanine nucleotide-binding protein Ras is involved in cellular signal transduction pathways inducing proliferation, differentiation, or apoptosis of cells. It functions as a molecular switch, cycling between an inactive GDP-bound state and an active GTP-bound state. In the active conformation Ras is able to bind different effector proteins such as Raf kinase or RalGDS with nanomolar affinity by interacting with its switch I region. Thus signals can be transmitted resulting in the corresponding cellular response.When bound to guanosine triphosphates Ras exists in two different conformational states, defined as states 1 and 2, which are in chemical equilibrium in solution (1-3). These conformational states are actually only defined for Ras with guanosine triphosphate bound (T), a state that may be different from a state with guanine diphosphate bound (D). Therefore, we will denote the two states in the following as state 1(T) and 2(T) whenever the nucleotide ligand is of concern. The equilibrium between the two states is strongly influenced by the nature of the guanine nucleotide bound to Ras and can be shifted by interaction with effector proteins or regulators such as GTPase activation proteins (GAPs).2 It was found that GTP analogs GppNHp and GppCH 2 p partially shift the equilibrium toward state 1. For the complex of wild-type Ras with physiological GTP itself the existence of the two states could not be...

Viral attachment to target cells is the first step in infection and also serves as a determinant of tropism. Like many viruses, mammalian reoviruses bind with low affinity to cell-surface carbohydrate receptors to initiate the infectious process. Reoviruses disseminate with serotype-specific tropism in the host, which may be explained by differential glycan utilization. Although α2,3-linked sialylated oligosaccharides serve as carbohydrate receptors for type 3 reoviruses, neither a specific glycan bound by any reovirus serotype nor the function of glycan binding in type 1 reovirus infection was known. We have identified the oligosaccharide portion of ganglioside GM2 (the GM2 glycan) as a receptor for the attachment protein σ1 of reovirus strain type 1 Lang (T1L) using glycan array screening. The interaction of T1L σ1 with GM2 in solution was confirmed using NMR spectroscopy. We established that GM2 glycan engagement is required for optimal infection of mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) by T1L. Preincubation with GM2 specifically inhibited type 1 but not type 3 reovirus infection of MEFs. To provide a structural basis for these observations, we defined the mode of receptor recognition by determining the crystal structure of T1L σ1 in complex with the GM2 glycan. GM2 binds in a shallow groove in the globular head domain of T1L σ1. Both terminal sugar moieties of the GM2 glycan, N-acetylneuraminic acid and N-acetylgalactosamine, form contacts with the protein, providing an explanation for the observed specificity for GM2. Viruses with mutations in the glycan-binding domain display diminished hemagglutination capacity, a property dependent on glycan binding, and reduced capacity to infect MEFs. Our results define a novel mode of virus-glycan engagement and provide a mechanistic explanation for the serotype-dependent differences in glycan utilization by reovirus.

The multi-step phosphorelay (MSP) system defines a key signal transduction pathway in plants and many eukaryotes. In this system, external stimuli first lead to the activation of a histidine kinase, followed by transfer of a phosphoryl group from the receiver domain of the kinase (HK(RD)) to downstream, cytosolic phosphotransfer proteins (HPs). In order to establish the determinants of specificity for this signaling relay system, we have solved the first crystal structure of a plant HK(RD), AHK5(RD), in complex with one of its cognate HPs, AHP1. AHP1 binds AHK5(RD) via a prominent hydrogen bond docking ridge and a hydrophobic patch. These features are conserved among all AHP proteins, but differ significantly from other structurally characterized prokaryotic and eukaryotic HPs. Surface plasmon resonance experiments show that AHK5(RD) binds to AHP1-3 with similar, micromolar affinity, consistent with the transient nature of this signaling complex. Our correlation of structural and functional data provide the first insight, at the atomic level as well as with quantitative affinity data, into the molecular recognition events governing the MSP in plants.