Endothelial protein C receptor is an entry receptor for Langya virus
- 1University of Washington
Abstract
Langya virus (LayV) was recently discovered in infected individuals with febrile illness and classified as a Parahenipavirus, a group of poorly understood pathogens. LayV is distantly related to Nipah henipavirus which causes recurring outbreaks with case fatality rates reaching up to 90%. No vaccines or therapeutics are approved for use in humans for any parahenipavirus or henipavirus despite their broad geographic distribution and pandemic potential. Here, we discovered that human endothelial protein C receptor (EPCR) is an entry receptor for LayV and that the tetrameric LayV attachment glycoprotein (G) binds EPCR avidly. We reveal the molecular basis of LayV G recognition of the EPCR receptor and provide a blueprint of the determinants of receptor ortholog usage. We found that human and shrew EPCR orthologs promote cell entry of LayV and of the closely related Mojiang pseudoviruses. These results along with the detection of several Parahenipaviruses in shrews set these pathogens apart from Henipaviruses, which use Pteropid fruit bats as reservoir hosts. Our data support future surveillance efforts, by enabling prediction of EPCR utilization among newly discovered Parahenipaviruses, and the development and evaluation of countermeasures targeting this emerging group of human pathogens.
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BibTeX
@misc{park2026endothelial,
title = {{Endothelial protein C receptor is an entry receptor for Langya virus}},
author = {Y.-J. Park and J. Song and R. Gen and C. Stewart and S. Lee and D. Veesler},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.64898/2026.11.04.763901},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.11.04.763901v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Endothelial protein C receptor is an entry receptor for Langya virus
AU - Y.-J. Park
AU - J. Song
AU - R. Gen
AU - C. Stewart
AU - S. Lee
AU - D. Veesler
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/04
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.11.04.763901
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.11.04.763901v1
AB - Langya virus (LayV) was recently discovered in infected individuals with febrile illness and classified as a Parahenipavirus, a group of poorly understood pathogens. LayV is distantly related to Nipah henipavirus which causes recurring outbreaks with case fatality rates reaching up to 90%. No vaccines or therapeutics are approved for use in humans for any parahenipavirus or henipavirus despite their broad geographic distribution and pandemic potential. Here, we discovered that human endothelial protein C receptor (EPCR) is an entry receptor for LayV and that the tetrameric LayV attachment glycoprotein (G) binds EPCR avidly. We reveal the molecular basis of LayV G recognition of the EPCR receptor and provide a blueprint of the determinants of receptor ortholog usage. We found that human and shrew EPCR orthologs promote cell entry of LayV and of the closely related Mojiang pseudoviruses. These results along with the detection of several Parahenipaviruses in shrews set these pathogens apart from Henipaviruses, which use Pteropid fruit bats as reservoir hosts. Our data support future surveillance efforts, by enabling prediction of EPCR utilization among newly discovered Parahenipaviruses, and the development and evaluation of countermeasures targeting this emerging group of human pathogens.
ER -