Characterization of echoviruses that bind decay accelerating factor (CD55): evidence that some haemagglutinating strains use more than one cellular receptor

RM Powell, V Schmitt, T Ward, I Goodfellow, DJ Evans and JW Almond School of Animal and Microbial Sciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights, UK. Several echoviruses (EVs) have previously been shown to use decay accelerating factor (DAF) as a cellular receptor. Since DAF is expressed on erythrocytes, EVs that use this receptor cause haemagglutination. Here we show that all EVs that haemagglutinate do so via attachment to DAF and that this interaction can be inhibited by a monoclonal antibody (MAb) specific for DAF domain SCR3. Although the viruses haemagglutinate via DAF some can bind to rhabdomyosarcoma cells from which DAF has been removed and infect in the presence of a MAb against DAF. This suggests that some EVs have the capacity to interact with more than one cellular receptor.