The host range of retroviruses is determined primarily by the presence of specific receptors on target cells which are recognized by the retroviral envelope glycoprotein. Kaelbling et al. (1991) described a receptor for the gibbon ape leukemia retrovirus. In an effort to isolate related human genes to determine if these function as receptors for any other retroviruses, van Zeijl et al. screened a human cDNA library at low stringency using GLVR1 as a probe. A single GLVR1-related cDNA (designated GLVR2) was isolated and found to have 62% identity to GLVR1 and its amino acid sequence. Expression of GLVR2 in CHO-K1 cells, which are resistant to infection by amphotropic virus because of the absence of a receptor, rendered the cells sensitive to infection by the virus. Thus, GLVR2 is a receptor for amphotropic virus.