Influenza exits the cell without an ESCRT.
Many enveloped viruses depend on the membrane remodeling machinery of their host cells to complete their life cycle. In this issue, Rossman et al. (2010) now demonstrate that influenza virus possesses its own device for releasing nascent virus particles from the plasma membrane, the M2 proton-selective ion channel, which can substitute for the host cell's ESCRT pathway.
Göttlinger
Heinrich G
HG
Program in Gene Function and Expression, Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA. heinrich.gottlinger@umassmed.edu