Mechanism and energetics of lipid recognition by viral fusion proteins

During viral infection, viral fusion proteins bind to the host cell membrane prior to catalyzing the fusion of the viral envelope with the host membrane. The atomic architectures of fusion proteins and their interactions with membrane receptors have been revealed
by numerous structural studies, however, the interactions of fusion proteins with the host lipid membrane are not well understood. We combined coarse-grained and all-atom simulations to quantify and to structurally characterize mechanisms of membrane binding by one representative each of class I, II, and III fusion proteins.