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How a virus enters a cell is different depending on the type of virus it is. A virus with a nonenveloped capsid enters the cell by attaching to the attachment factor located on a host cell. It then enters the cell by endocytosis or by making a hole in the membrane of the host cell and inserting its viral genome. [2]
Viruses enter host cells using a variety of mechanisms, including the endocytic and non-endocytic routes. [4] They can also fuse at the plasma membrane and can spread within the host via fusion or cell-cell fusion. [5] Viruses attach to proteins on the host cell surface known as cellular receptors or attachment factors to aid entry. [6 ...
To enter the cells, proteins on the surface of the virus interact with proteins of the cell. Attachment, or adsorption, occurs between the viral particle and the host cell membrane. A hole forms in the cell membrane, then the virus particle or its genetic contents are released into the host cell, where replication of the viral genome may commence.
To infect a host cell, the virus must first inject its own nucleic acid into the cell through the plasma membrane and (if present) the cell wall. The virus does so by either attaching to a receptor on the cell's surface or by simple mechanical force. The binding is due to electrostatic interactions and is influenced by pH and the presence of ions.
Plant viruses can only attach to plant cells and cannot infect animals. This mechanism has evolved to favour those viruses that only infect cells in which they are capable of reproducing. Penetration follows attachment; viruses penetrate the host cell by endocytosis or by fusion with the cell.
Virus Life Cycle (Simplified for RNA Viruses). Upon attaching to the cell surface, virus entry occurs via binding cell surface receptor and via endocytosis. The virus utilizes host proteins and other cell machinery to replicate. Once the viral genome has been replicated, the progeny virions are assembled and released out of the cell.
It also functions to attach the virion to its host, and enable the virion to penetrate the host cell membrane. Many copies of a single viral protein or a number of different viral proteins make up the capsid, and each of these viral proteins are coded for by one gene from the viral genome .
In SARS-CoV-2, the spike protein, which has been imaged at the atomic level using cryogenic electron microscopy, [148] [149] is the protein responsible for allowing the virus to attach to and fuse with the membrane of a host cell; [147] specifically, its S1 subunit catalyzes attachment, the S2 subunit fusion. [150]