Viral entry

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Viral entry is the earliest stage of infection in the "viral life cycle", as the virus comes into contact with the host cell and introduces viral material into the cell. The major steps involved in viral entry are:

• 1. Attachment, when receptors on the viral envelope become connected to complementary receptors on the cell membrane.
• 2. Membrane Fusion or Viral Adsorption, as the cell membrane is punctured and made to further connect with the unfolding viral envelope.
• 3. Viral Pentration as the viral capsid is injected into the host cell's cytoplasm.

After the introduction of the viral capsid, unpacking of the contents (viral proteins and the viral genome via some form of nucleic acid) occurs as the next stage of viral infection.