{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T05:15:27Z","timestamp":1787030127114,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":60,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,25]],"date-time":"2021-08-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1629849600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Paul D. Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Specialized Research Center grant","award":["1U54NS053672"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["1U54NS053672"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000011","name":"Howard Hughes Medical Institute","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["n\/a"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["n\/a"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000011","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Viruses"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Lassa fever virus (LASV) can cause life-threatening hemorrhagic fevers for which there are currently no vaccines or targeted treatments. The late Prof. Stefan Kunz, along with others, showed that the high-affinity host receptor for LASV, and other Old World and clade-C New World mammarenaviruses, is matriglycan\u2014a linear repeating disaccharide of alternating xylose and glucuronic acid that is polymerized uniquely on \u03b1-dystroglycan by like-acetylglucosaminyltransferase-1 (LARGE1). Although \u03b1-dystroglycan is ubiquitously expressed, LASV preferentially infects vascular endothelia and professional phagocytic cells, which suggests that viral entry requires additional cell-specific factors. In this review, we highlight the work of Stefan Kunz detailing the molecular mechanism of LASV binding and discuss the requirements of receptors, such as tyrosine kinases, for internalization through apoptotic mimicry.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/v13091679","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,25]],"date-time":"2021-08-25T23:25:50Z","timestamp":1629933950000},"page":"1679","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":19,"title":["Lassa Fever Virus Binds Matriglycan\u2014A Polymer of Alternating Xylose and Glucuronate\u2014On \u03b1-Dystroglycan"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Soumya","family":"Joseph","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Senator Paul D. Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Specialized Research Center, Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics and Department of Neurology, Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2066-5889","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kevin P.","family":"Campbell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Senator Paul D. Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Specialized Research Center, Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics and Department of Neurology, Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"751","DOI":"10.1099\/0022-1317-71-4-751","article-title":"The recognition event between virus and host cell receptor: A target for antiviral agents","volume":"71","author":"Lentz","year":"1990","journal-title":"J. Gen. 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