One receptor, two worlds: MXRA8's alphavirus tango

James Weger-Lucarelli

doi:10.1016/j.chom.2023.10.008

One receptor, two worlds: MXRA8's alphavirus tango

Cell Host Microbe. 2023 Nov 8;31(11):1763-1764. doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2023.10.008.

Author

James Weger-Lucarelli¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, VA-MD Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA; Center for Zoonotic and Arthropod-borne Pathogens (CeZAP), Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA. Electronic address: weger@vt.edu.

PMID: 37944485
DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2023.10.008

Abstract

Mammalian MXRA8 functions as a receptor for chikungunya and other related alphaviruses. A recent study in Cell molecularly characterizes host-specific receptor usage, specifically showing avian MXRA8 acts as a receptor for several alphaviruses with avian reservoirs in an inverted manner relative to alphaviruses that use mammalian MXRA8 as a receptor.

MeSH terms

Alphavirus*
Animals
Chikungunya Fever*
Chikungunya virus*
Humans
Mammals