Organisms Commons^™

Direct Cell-To-Cell Transmission Of Respiratory Viruses: The Fast Lanes, Nicolás P. Cifuentes-Muñoz, Rebecca Ellis Dutch, Roberto Cattaneo

Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Virus particles protect genomes from hostile environments within and outside the host, eventually delivering these genomes to target tissues to initiate infection. Complex processes requiring significant energy and time are necessary to assemble these virus particles, but only a small portion of released virus will successfully infect new target cells (Fig 1A). While the science of virology has developed based on the isolation and purification of viral particles, it is becoming increasingly clear that direct cell-to-cell transmission of viruses and/or viral components is also highly relevant [1,2].

Direct cell-to-cell spread of infections has several advantages. The first is efficiency: genomic …

Transmembrane Domains Of Highly Pathogenic Viral Fusion Proteins Exhibit Trimeric Association In Vitro, Stacy R. Webb, Stacy E. Smith, Michael G. Fried, Rebecca Ellis Dutch

Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Enveloped viruses require viral fusion proteins to promote fusion of the viral envelope with a target cell membrane. To drive fusion, these proteins undergo large conformational changes that must occur at the right place and at the right time. Understanding the elements which control the stability of the prefusion state and the initiation of conformational changes is key to understanding the function of these important proteins. The construction of mutations in the fusion protein transmembrane domains (TMDs) or the replacement of these domains with lipid anchors has implicated the TMD in the fusion process. However, the structural and molecular details …

Hendra Virus Fusion Protein Transmembrane Domain Contributes To Pre-Fusion Protein Stability, Stacy Webb, Tamas Nagy, Hunter Moseley, Michael G. Fried, Rebecca Ellis Dutch

Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Enveloped viruses utilize fusion (F) proteins studding the surface of the virus to facilitate membrane fusion with a target cell membrane. Fusion of the viral envelope with a cellular membrane is required for release of viral genomic material, so the virus can ultimately reproduce and spread. To drive fusion, the F protein undergoes an irreversible conformational change, transitioning from a metastable pre-fusion conformation to a more thermodynamically stable post-fusion structure. Understanding the elements that control stability of the pre-fusion state and triggering to the post-fusion conformation is important for understanding F protein function. Mutations in F protein transmembrane (TM) domains …