Key Factors in the Multiple Mechanisms of Virus Entry

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Review Key Factors in the Multiple Mechanisms of Virus Entry Yifan Wang 1,2, Quanxiang Yu 1,3, Shuru Lin 1,3, Wenqi Jiang 1,3, Zhengfei Qi 1,3,4, Lina Wang 1,3, Lian Wu 1,3, Rui Ma 1,3, Kexin Zhang 1,3, Shurong Chen 1,3,4, Jiayi Xie 1,3, Lingli Zheng 1,3,4, Min Zhou 1,3,4 and Qingshan Bill Fu 1,3,4,* 1 Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, China 2 School of Life Science and Medicine, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 124000, China 3 Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Zhongshan Institute for Drug Discovery, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhongshan 528400, China 4 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China * Correspondence: fuqingshan@simm.ac.cn Received: 22 October 2024; Revised: 12 November 2024; Accepted: 19 December 2024; Published: 2 January 2025 Abstract: Viruses are non-cellular organisms that must parasitize and multiply within living cells to achieve their replicative procedures. Viral assaults can affect bacteria, eukaryotes, and archaea. Well-known viral illnesses in human history include smallpox, Ebola, the black death, the Spanish flu, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), rabies, SARS, etc. Each of these diseases has caused countless deaths and severe consequences, greatly hindering the progress of human civilization and economic growth. Invasion of host cells by viruses can be broadly divided into several steps: adhesion, entry, replication, assembly, and release. Viral entry is particularly essential for viral invasion of host cells to cause infection. Different methods are employed by enveloped and non-enveloped viruses to mediate virus entry. Whichever entry technique is used, a few essential proteins (virus membrane proteins and cell receptor proteins) play crucial rules. Our knowledge of the structures of important proteins is also essential since it can inform us of the precise steps involved in this procedure. This review discusses the various methods of virus entry (such as Clathrin/Caveolae-mediated endocytosis, Lipid raft, and Macropinocytosis), lists a few typical fusion proteins in virus entry, and offers brief information on the structural characteristics of virus entry for diseases caused by the HIV and the recently discovered virus SARS-CoV-2. The intention of this page is to provide readers with an overall overview of virus entry pathways and to serve as a theoretical foundation for pertinent researches.