Institute of Preventive Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu City, China.
Key Laboratory of Animal Disease and Human Health of Sichuan Province, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu City, China.
Front Immunol. 2022 Jun 2;13:890549. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.890549. eCollection 2022.
Viroporins are virally encoded transmembrane proteins that are essential for viral pathogenicity and can participate in various stages of the viral life cycle, thereby promoting viral proliferation. Viroporins have multifaceted effects on host cell biological functions, including altering cell membrane permeability, triggering inflammasome formation, inducing apoptosis and autophagy, and evading immune responses, thereby ensuring that the virus completes its life cycle. Viroporins are also virulence factors, and their complete or partial deletion often reduces virion release and reduces viral pathogenicity, highlighting the important role of these proteins in the viral life cycle. Thus, viroporins represent a common drug-protein target for inhibiting drugs and the development of antiviral therapies. This article reviews current studies on the functions of viroporins in the viral life cycle and their regulation of host cell responses, with the aim of improving the understanding of this growing family of viral proteins.
病毒孔道蛋白是病毒编码的跨膜蛋白，对病毒的致病性至关重要，能够参与病毒生命周期的各个阶段，从而促进病毒的增殖。病毒孔道蛋白对宿主细胞的生物学功能具有多方面的影响，包括改变细胞膜通透性、触发炎性小体形成、诱导细胞凋亡和自噬、以及逃避免疫反应等，从而确保病毒完成其生命周期。病毒孔道蛋白也是毒力因子，其完全或部分缺失通常会减少病毒粒子的释放并降低病毒的致病性，这凸显了这些蛋白质在病毒生命周期中的重要作用。因此，病毒孔道蛋白成为抑制药物和开发抗病毒疗法的常见药物-蛋白靶标。本文综述了病毒孔道蛋白在病毒生命周期中的功能及其对宿主细胞反应的调控作用的研究进展，以期提高对这一家族不断增长的病毒蛋白的认识。
