Measles Virus

• Published in: Uirusu Vol. 67; no. 1; pp. 3 - 16
• Main Authors: TAHARA, Maino, TAKEDA, Makoto
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: Japan The Japanese Society for Virology 2017
• Subjects: Animals; Cell Adhesion Molecules - metabolism; Epitopes; Hemagglutinins, Viral - chemistry; Hemagglutinins, Viral - metabolism; Hemagglutinins, Viral - physiology; Humans; Measles Vaccine; Measles virus - pathogenicity; Protein Binding; Protein Structure, Secondary; Receptors, Virus - metabolism; Signaling Lymphocytic Activation Molecule Associated Protein - metabolism; Viral Fusion Proteins - chemistry; Virus Internalization
• ISSN: 0042-6857; 1884-3433
• DOI: 10.2222/jsv.67.3

Measles virus (MeV) is exceptionally contagious and still a major cause of death in child.However, recently significant progress towards the elimination of measles has been made through increased vaccination coverage of measles-containing vaccines. The hemagglutinin (H) protein of MeV interacts with a cellular receptor, and this interaction is the first step of infection. MeV uses two different receptors, signaling lymphocyte activation molecule (SLAM) and nectin-4 expressed on immune cells and epithelial cells, respectively. The interactions of MeV with these receptors nicely explain the immune suppressive and high contagious properties of MeV. Binding of the H protein to a receptor triggers conformational changes in the fusion (F) protein, inducing fusion between viral and host plasma membranes for entry. The stalk region of the H protein plays a key role in the F protein-triggering. Recent studies of the H protein epitopes have revealed that the receptor binding site of the H protein constitutes a major neutralizing epitope. The interaction with two proteinaceous receptors probably imposes strong functional constraints on this epitope for amino acid changes. This would be a reason why measles vaccines, which are derived from MV strains isolated more than 60 years ago, are still highly effective against all MV strains currently circulating.