Research progress in interaction mechanism of enveloped glycoproteins of human parainfluenza virus type 3 / 中华实验和临床病毒学杂志

ABSTRACT

Human parainfluenza viruses (hPIVs), a series of single-stranded RNA viruses of Paramyxoviridae, are the main pathogen of respiratory tract infection. hPIV3 is the main cause of lower respiratory tract infection leading to bronchiolitis and pneumonias in young children under the age of six months, and it is the second major pathogen only next to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). In this paper, we mainly discuss two kinds of virulence-related surface glycoprotein of hPIV3 hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) protein and fusion protein (F) by briefly introducing the protein structure and physiological functions of HN and F. According to the latest research progress, we focus on the models which have been postulated to explain how F and HN work in concert to bring about membrane fusion.