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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Nov 20, 2025

Generation and Assembly of Virus-Specific Nucleocapsids of the Respiratory Syncytial Virus

Generation and Assembly of Virus-Specific Nucleocapsids of the Respiratory Syncytial Virus

Published on: July 27, 2021

Control of Capsid Transformations during Reovirus Entry.

Stephanie L Gummersheimer¹, Anthony J Snyder¹, Pranav Danthi¹

¹Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.

|January 26, 2021

Summary

Mammalian orthoreovirus (reovirus) capsid proteins control viral entry by undergoing structural changes. Host membranes also play a role in reovirus capsid remodeling for cell entry.

Keywords:

capsid cell entry reovirus

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Area of Science:

Virology
Structural Biology
Cell Biology

Background:

Mammalian orthoreovirus (reovirus) is a double-stranded RNA virus with a complex, multilayered capsid.
Reovirus serves as a model system for understanding viral entry mechanisms of similar viruses.
The reovirus capsid undergoes significant structural transformations during the entry process.

Purpose of the Study:

To review the role of reovirus capsid proteins and their interactions in controlling capsid stability.
To highlight the structural changes in the reovirus capsid necessary for cell entry.
To discuss the proviral role of host membranes in viral entry.

Main Methods:

This review synthesizes existing research on reovirus structure and entry.
It focuses on analyzing capsid protein functions and interactions.
It examines the influence of host cell membranes on viral capsid remodeling.

Main Results:

The outermost reovirus capsid layer processes into a metastable intermediate.
Further capsid remodeling generates an entry-competent particle delivering the genome-containing core into the cytoplasm.
Host membranes actively promote capsid conformational changes essential for entry.

Conclusions:

Capsid protein interactions are critical for regulating reovirus structural transitions during entry.
Host membranes are not passive barriers but actively facilitate viral entry.
Further research is needed to fill knowledge gaps regarding reovirus entry mechanisms.