Cellular receptor for human cytomegalovirus.

The results of the studies reported strongly suggest that the binding of HCMV to a target cell in vitro is mediated by a glycoprotein membrane receptor having a molecular weight of approximately 30 kd. It has been further concluded that this particular molecule is the principal HCMV receptor, since it has been observed in each of the cell types that have been studied. As for the 28 and 60 kd molecules, the former may be a proteolytic degradation product and the latter a dimer of the 30 kd receptor. The precise contribution of the 92 kd that may allow for viral penetration into a host cell molecule to the initial recognition event is unknown at the present time.