Characterization of rat brain cellular membrane components acting as receptors for vesicular stomatitis virus.

The chemical nature of the binding sites for vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) was studied by measuring the ability of solubilized rat brain cell membranes (SRBM) to compete with cultured cells for viral binding. SRBM significantly reduced both binding and infectivity of VSV. After separation of protein and lipid components from membranes, VSV infection was unaffected by the protein fraction, whereas the lipid moiety, specifically phospholipids and glycolipids, showed a dose-dependent inhibitory effect. The essential role of phospholipid and sialic acid-containing glycolipid molecules as receptors for VSV was also suggested by the sensitivity of the inhibitory activity of SRBM and lipid components to phospholipase C and neuraminidase digestion.