The roles of direct recognition by animal lectins in antiviral immunity and viral pathogenesis

Yang Liu, Jianying Liu, Xiaojing Pang, Tao Liu, Zhijie Ning, Gong Cheng

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

24 Scopus citations

Abstract

Lectins are a group of proteins with carbohydrate recognition activity. Lectins are categorized into many families based on their different cellular locations as well as their specificities for a variety of carbohydrate structures due to the features of their carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD) modules. Many studies have indicated that the direct recognition of particular oligosaccharides on viral components by lectins is important for interactions between hosts and viruses. Herein, we aim to globally review the roles of this recognition by animal lectins in antiviral immune responses and viral pathogenesis. The different classes of mammalian lectins can either recognize carbohydrates to activate host immunity for viral elimination or can exploit those carbohydrates as susceptibility factors to facilitate viral entry, replication or assembly. Additionally, some arthropod C-type lectins were recently identified as key susceptibility factors that directly interact with multiple viruses and then facilitate infection. Summarization of the pleiotropic roles of direct viral recognition by animal lectins will benefit our understanding of host-virus interactions and could provide insight into the role of lectins in antiviral drug and vaccine development.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2272-2295
Number of pages24
JournalMolecules
Volume20
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 1 2015
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Antiviral immunity
  • Direct interaction
  • Lectin
  • Viral pathogenesis
  • Virus

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Analytical Chemistry
  • Chemistry (miscellaneous)
  • Molecular Medicine
  • Pharmaceutical Science
  • Drug Discovery
  • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
  • Organic Chemistry

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