Identification of Chicken CD44 as a Novel B Lymphocyte Receptor for Infectious Bursal Disease Virus
Aijing Liu, Qing Pan, Suyan Wang, Yu Zhang, Yue Li, Yongqiang Wang, Xiaole Qi, Li Gao, Changjun Liu, Yanping Zhang, Hongyu Cui, Kai Li, Xiaomei Wang, Yulong Gao
Abstract
Infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) causes severe immunosuppressive disease in chickens, inducing huge economic losses for the poultry industry. However, the specific mechanism of IBDV invading host cells of IBDV was not very clear. This study shed light on which cellular protein component IBDV is used to bind and/or enter B lymphocytes. The results of our study revealed that chCD44 could promote both the binding and entry ability of IBDV in B lymphocytes, acting as a cellular receptor for IBDV. Besides, this is the first report about chicken CD44 function in viral replication. Our study impacts the understanding of the IBDV binding and entry process and sets the stage for further elucidation of the infection mechanism of IBDV.