Virus Entry And Activation Of Innate Defence

All viruses must deliver their genomes to host cells to initiate infection. The cell plasma membrane serves as an initial barrier that must be crossed if an infection is going to take place. This chapter will summarize what is known about the entry pathway of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) with certain parallels and commonalities noted between HCMV and other betaherpesviruses. The roles of HCMV envelope glycoproteins in mediating critical virus entry events such as attachment and fusion as well as the current knowledge of the identification of cellular receptors that serve as entry mediators will also be described. This chapter will also discuss the entry-associated innate antiviral response and the emerging role of signalling pathways in the early events in infection. Lastly, we will examine how virus entry and innate antiviral response may be coordinated.