Shortening adenovirus type 5 fiber shaft decreases the efficiency of postbinding steps in CAR-expressing and nonexpressing cells.

The coxsackie B virus and adenovirus receptor (CAR) functions as an attachment receptor for multiple adenovirus serotypes. It has been shown that apart from virus-cellular receptor interactions, the fiber shaft length also influences viral tropism. We therefore generated Ad5FbDelta639 virus with 8beta-repeats in the shaft, instead of the 22beta-repeats present in the wild-type. Here, we show that the extent of attachment of the virus with shortened fiber to CAR-expressing cells was three- to fivefold lower than that of the wild-type. Transduction studies, however, clearly showed that infection of CAR-expressing cells with Ad5FbDelta639 was strongly impaired by comparison with the wild-type virus. Since this impairment was not linked to a proportional reduction in binding to cells, it appeared to be linked to subsequent/later events in infection. A similar decrease in efficacy of postbinding steps was also evidenced in cells that did not express CAR.