Ebola
virus (EBOV) is responsible for several outbreaks of hemorrhagic
fever with high mortality, raising great public concern. Several cell
surface receptors have been identified to mediate EBOV binding and
internalization, including phosphatidylserine (PS) receptors (TIM-1)
and C-type lectin receptors (DC-SIGNR). However, the role of TIM-1
during early cell surface binding remains elusive and in particular
whether TIM-1 acts as a specific receptor for EBOV. Here, we used
force–distance curve-based atomic force microscopy (FD-based
AFM) to quantify the binding between TIM-1/DC-SIGNR and EBOV glycoprotein
(GP) and observed that both receptors specifically bind to GP with
high-affinity. Since TIM-1 can also directly interact with PS at the
single-molecule level, we also confirmed that TIM-1 acts as dual-function
receptors of EBOV. These results highlight the direct involvement
of multiple high-affinity receptors in the first steps of binding
to cell surfaces, thus offering new perspectives for the development
of anti-EBOV therapeutic molecules.
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