How virus size and attachment parameters affect the temperature sensitivity of virus binding to host cells: Predictions of a thermodynamic model for arboviruses and HIV

Virus binding to host cells involves specific interactions between viral (glyco)proteins (GP) and host cell surface receptors (Cr) (protein or sialic acid (SA)). The magnitude of the enthalpy of association changes with temperature according to the change in heat capacity (ΔC(p)) on GP/Cr binding, being little affected for avian influenza virus (AIV) haemagglutinin (HA) binding to SA (ΔC(p) = 0 kJ/mol/K) but greatly affected for HIV gp120 binding to CD4 receptor (ΔC(p) = −5.0 kJ/mol/K). A thermodynamic model developed here predicts that values of ΔC(p) from 0 to ~−2.0 kJ/mol/K have relatively little impact on the temperature sensitivity of the number of mosquito midgut cells with bound arbovirus, while intermediate values of ΔC(p) of ~−3.0 kJ/mol/K give a peak binding at a temperature of ~20 °C as observed experimentally for Western equine encephalitis virus. More negative values of ΔC(p) greatly decrease arbovirus binding at temperatures below ~20 °C. Thus to promote transmission at low temperatures, arboviruses may benefit from ΔC(p) ~ 0 kJ/mol/K as for HA/SA and it is interesting that bluetongue virus binds to SA in midge midguts. Large negative values of ΔC(p) as for HIV gp120:CD4 diminish binding at 37 °C. Of greater importance, however, is the decrease in entropy of the whole virus (ΔS(a_immob)) on its immobilisation on the host cell surface. ΔS(a_immob) presents a repulsive force which the enthalpy-driven GP/Cr interactions weakened at higher temperatures struggle to overcome. ΔS(a_immob) is more negative (less favourable) for larger diameter viruses which therefore show diminished binding at higher temperatures than smaller viruses. It is proposed that small size phenotype through a less negative ΔS(a_immob) is selected for viruses infecting warmer hosts thus explaining the observation that virion volume decreases with increasing host temperature from 0 °C to 40 °C in the case of dsDNA viruses. Compared to arboviruses which also infect warm-blooded vertebrates, HIV is large at 134 nm diameter and thus would have a large negative ΔS(a_immob) which would diminish its binding at human body temperature. It is proposed that prior non-specific binding of HIV through attachment factors takes much of the entropy loss for ΔS(a_immob) so enhancing subsequent specific gp120:CD4 binding at 37 °C. This is consistent with the observation that HIV attachment factors are not essential but augment infection. Antiviral therapies should focus on increasing virion size, for example through binding of zinc oxide nanoparticles to herpes simplex virus, hence making ΔS(a_immob) more negative, and thus reducing binding affinity at 37 °C.