Key result
Review of competing enterovirus uncoating models highlights the need for combined structural and cellular assays.
Why the study?
Enterovirus uncoating, the events leading to the release of the viral genome into the cytoplasm, remains a poorly understood process.
This review highlights the need for combined structural and cellular approaches to resolve the mechanisms of enterovirus uncoating.
Leaves open enterovirus uncoating mechanisms; integrated structural and cellular studies needed to distinguish translocation from particle escape models.
Enterovirus uncoating, the events leading to the release of the viral genome into the cytoplasm, remains a poorly understood process. This review discusses two competing models: the “genome translocation model,” where viral proteins form a pore for RNA passage into the cytosol, and the “particle escape model,” where the entire virion crosses the endosomal membrane before uncoating. We discuss the combination of structural biology, in vitro reconstitution, and cellular assays required to definitively resolve this long-standing mystery.
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Symonds-Orr et al. (2026) conducted a review in Enterovirus infection. This review discusses the competing genome translocation and particle escape models of enterovirus uncoating, highlighting the need for combined structural and cellular assays to resolve the mechanism.
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