An adenovirus glycoprotein binds heavy chains of class I transplantation antigens from man and mouse.

The successful killing of virus-infected cells by cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) is dependent on the recognition of both a viral product and class I antigens of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) on the infected cell surface. Whether these two entities are found independently on the cell surface and therefore recognized by two different CTL receptors, or whether they are associated together and can therefore be recognized by a single receptor is not known. The association between an adenovirus-encoded glycoprotein expressed on the cell surface early after infection and class I antigens has been investigated and it has been found that antisera against class I antigens can co-precipitate the antigen and the viral glycoprotein from an adenovirus-transformed cell line from the Hooded-Lister rat strain. We show here by in vitro affinity chromatography and in vivo immunoprecipitation that the viral glycoprotein specifically binds to the heavy chain of class I antigens in both man and mouse.