ABSTRACT
Receptor mediated entry is the first step for viral infection. There are thousands of cell membrane proteins, yet only a few of them were identified as viral receptors. How the virus selects receptors is an unsolved important question. Here, by manually curating a high-quality database of 268 pairs of mammalian virus-host receptor interaction, which included 128 unique viral species or sub-species and 119 virus receptors, we found the viral receptors were structurally and functionally diverse, yet they had several common features when compared to other cell membrane proteins: more protein domains, higher level of N-glycosylation, higher ratio of self-interaction and more interaction partners, and higher expression in most tissues of the host. Additionally, the receptors used by the same virus tended to co-evolve. This work could deepen our understanding towards the viral receptor selection and help for identification of viral receptors.