The tight junction protein JAM-A functions as coreceptor for rotavirus entry into MA104 cells.

Several molecules have been identified as receptors or coreceptors for rotavirus infection, including glycans, integrins, and hsc70. In this work we report that the tight junction proteins JAM-A, occludin, and ZO-1 play an important role during rotavirus entry into MA104 cells. JAM-A was found to function as coreceptor for rotavirus strains RRV, Wa, and UK, but not for rotavirus YM. Reassortant viruses derived from rotaviruses RRV and YM showed that the virus spike protein VP4 determines the use of JAM-A as coreceptor.