Membrane fusion of enveloped viruses: especially a matter of proteins.
To infect mammalian cells, enveloped viruses have to deposit their nucleocapsids into the cytoplasm of a host cell. Membrane fusion represents a key element in this entry mechanism. The fusion activity resides in specific, virally encoded membrane glycoproteins. Some molecular properties of these fusion proteins will be briefly described. These properties will then be correlated to the ability of a virus to fuse with target membranes, and to induce cell-cell fusion. Some molecular and physical parameters affecting virus fusion--at the level of either viral or target membrane or both--and the significance of modelling virus fusion by using synthetic peptides resembling viral fusion peptides, will also be discussed.
Hoekstra
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Laboratory of Physiological Chemistry, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002459:Cell Fusion / Q000502:physiology; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000502:physiology; D008561:Membrane Fusion / Q000502:physiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010455:Peptides / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000494:pharmacology; D011487:Protein Conformation; D014760:Viral Fusion Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D014780:Viruses / Q000648:ultrastructure
D010455:Peptides; D014760:Viral Fusion Proteins; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins; D002784:Cholesterol