Virus Entry -Endocytosis and Penetration

In the second lecture, the next steps in viral infection are described. Endocytosis of plasma membrane bound viruses can occur via a number of mechanisms including caveolar, clathrin, non-clathrin, or lipid raft mediated pathways. The internalized virus is delivered enclosed toin an endosome that may undergoes increasing acidification resulting in acid mediated fusion between the viral envelope and the vesicle membrane. Following membrane penetration, the virus, once again, makes use of cellular machinery such as microtubules and their motors, to transfer its genome to the nucleus. Helenius describes experiments from his lab and others that have deciphered these complex processes.