title: Virus-cell and cell-cell fusion.
abstract: Significant progress has been made in elucidating the mechanisms of viral membrane fusion proteins; both those that function at low, as well as those that function at neutral, pH. For many viral fusion proteins evidence now suggests that a triggered conformational change that exposes a previously cryptic fusion peptide, along with a rearrangement of the fusion protein oligomer, allows the fusion peptide to gain access to the target bilayer and thus initiate the fusion reaction. Although the topologically equivalent process of cell-cell fusion is less well understood, several cell surface proteins, including members of the newly described ADAM gene family, have emerged as candidate adhesion/fusion proteins.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville 22908, USA.
authors.forename: L D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Hernandez
authors.forename: L R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Hoffman
authors.forename: T G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Wolfsberg
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: White
mesh_terms: D002462:Cell Membrane; D008561:Membrane Fusion; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D014760:Viral Fusion Proteins; D014780:Viruses
chemical_list: D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D014760:Viral Fusion Proteins