Two closely related adenovirus genome types with kidney or respiratory tract tropism differ in their binding to epithelial cells of various origins.

The host cell interactions of the genome types Ad11p and Ad11a of human adenovirus serotype 11, displaying kidney or respiratory tropism, were compared using FACS analysis. Kinetic experiments indicated that the virus binding stated immediately and reached a plateau after 30 min. The binding of biotinylated virions to seven continuous cell lines. A549, A498, J82, HeLa, CHO, MDCK, and human diploid fibroblasts (HEDF), was quantitated by FACS analysis. The binding capacities of the two viruses to all human cell lines but A549 cells appeared to differ. Ad11p virions manifested high affinities, whereas Ad11a virions presented low affinities. Neither of the two viruses bound to CHO or MDCK cells. Reciprocal competition experiments showed that the Ad11a virions could be weakly blocked by the Ad11p virions, whereas the Ad11p virions could not be competed at all by the Ad11a virions. The binding of the Ad11p virions to cells could be blocked by the rfiber antiserum of Ad11p, but not by the corresponding antiserum against Ad11a or Ad35p. A comparison of the cytopathogenicity of the seven cell lines infected by Ad11p and Ad11a demonstrated that the efficiency of the initial event of an adenovirus infection directly affects the outcome of the viral infection. The Ad11a in the A498, J82, HeLa, or HEDF cells that presented lower affinity and receptor concentration showed 100 times less infectivity than that in A549 cells displaying high affinity and receptor concentration. These results indicate that the cell susceptibility to Ad11p and Ad11a infection strongly depends on both the number of fiber receptors on the host cells and the receptor affinity for ligands on the fiber knob. Our findings also suggest that the receptors for Ad11p and Ad11a on the surface of different cell types may be different or on different sites.