In vitro interaction of poliovirus with cytoplasmic dynein

Objective: Poliovirus (PV) enters the host by the oral route and can infect the central nervous system (CNS) by two mechanisms: crossing the blood-brain barrier and traveling along the nerves from the muscle to the spinal cord. In the latter mechanism, the PV receptor, CD155, and the motor protein, dynein, have been implicated in the transport of PV to the CNS. In this work we analyzed the possible interaction of PV with dynein. Methods: PV was bound to a Sepharose 4B beads and they were used to analyze the interaction of PV with cytoplasmic proteins from neuroblastoma cells by affinity chromatography and Western blot. Results: The interaction with cytoplasmic dynein was observed only when the Sepharose beads bound to PV were used and not in the control ones, where proteins from uninfected cells were coupled. Conclusion: These preliminary results open the possibility that PV uses the dynein directly in its retrograde axonal transport.