Treatments with S-layer during different times in the infection demonstrated that inhibition was only observed when S-layer was presented in early stages of the viral infection. This inhibition does not involve the classic recognition of mannose by this C-type lectin as the S-layer showed no evidence to be glycosylated. In fact, the highly basic nature of the S-layer (pI > 9.5) seems to be involved in electrostatic interactions between DC-SIGN and S-layer, since high pH abolished the inhibitory effect on infection cause by the S-layer. In silico analysis predicts a Ca2+-dependant carbohydrate recognition domain in the SlpA protein.
This novel characteristic of the S-layer, a GRAS status protein, contribute to the pathogen exclusion reported for this probiotic strain and may be applied as an antiviral agent to inhibit several kinds of viruses.