Harrison, Stephen2010-03-032008Harrison, Stephen C. 2008. Viral membrane fusion. Nature Structural and Molecular Biology 15, no. 7: 690-698.1545-9993http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:3710801Infection by viruses having lipid-bilayer envelopes proceeds through fusion of the viral membrane with a membrane of the target cell. Viral ‘fusion proteins’ facilitate this process. They vary greatly in structure, but all seem to have a common mechanism of action, in which a ligand-triggered, largescale conformational change in the fusion protein is coupled to apposition and merger of the two bilayers. We describe three examples—the influenza virus hemagglutinin, the flavivirus E protein and the vesicular stomatitis virus G protein—in some detail, to illustrate the ways in which different structures have evolved to implement this common mechanism. Fusion inhibitors can be effective antiviral agents.en-US2010-03-0310.1038/nsmb.1456