Use of chimeric nectin-1(HveC)-related receptors to demonstrate that ability to bind alphaherpesvirus gD is not necessarily sufficient for viral entry

Human nectin-1 (HveC, Prr1), a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily and a receptor for the entry of herpes simplex viruses 1 and 2 (HSV-1, HSV-2), pseudorabies virus (PRV), and bovine herpesvirus 1 (BHV-1), binds to viral gD. For HSV-1, HSV-2, and PRV, the gD-binding region of nectin-1 has been localized to the N-terminal V-like domain. To determine whether the two C-like domains of nectin-1 influenced gD binding and entry activity, genes encoding chimeric proteins were constructed. Portions of nectin-1 were replaced with homologous regions from nectin-2 (HveB, Prr2), a related protein with ability to mediate the entry of PRV, HSV-2, and Rid mutants of HSV-1, but not HSV-1 or BHV-1. Also, one or more domains of nectin-1 were fused to the two membrane-proximal Ig domains of CD4, a protein with no herpesvirus entry or gD-binding activity. The chimeric proteins were expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells, which normally lack alphaherpesvirus entry receptors, and detected on the cell surface by one or more anti-nectin-1 monoclonal antibodies. One chimeric protein (nectin-1 amino acids 1-124 fused to CD4) failed to bind to soluble forms of HSV-1, HSV-2, PRV, and BHV-1 gD and, as expected, also failed to mediate entry of the viruses from which these gDs were derived. The other chimeric receptors bound all forms of gD. Some mediated the entry of all the viruses tested but others mediated entry of some but not all the viruses. We conclude that binding of gD to the nectin-1 V domain is not sufficient for entry activity, that there are structural requirements for entry activity independent of gD binding, and that these requirements are different for the several alphaherpesviruses that can use nectin-1 as a receptor.