The interaction of measles virus with its receptor signaling lymphocytic activation molecule
(SLAM) controls cell entry and governs tropism. We predicted potential interface areas of the
measles virus attachment protein hemagglutinin to begin the investigation. We then
assessed the relevance of individual amino acids located in these areas for SLAM-binding
and SLAM-dependent membrane fusion, as measured by surface plasmon resonance and
receptor-specific fusion assays, respectively. These studies identified one hemagglutinin …