{"title":"Advances in Viroporin Function and Structure: A Comparative Analysis of Alphavirus 6K with Well-Characterized Viroporins.","authors":"Vashi Negi, Andrew S Miller, Richard J Kuhn","doi":"10.3390/v17060868","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Viruses encode ion channel proteins called viroporins to assist in infection and immune evasion. The alphavirus 6K protein is classified as a member of the viroporin family of proteins. Several studies have characterized the role of 6K in alphavirus budding and infection since its discovery in the late 1970s. In this review, we summarize 6K research and discuss some unanswered questions regarding 6K biology. We highlight the similarities and differences between 6K and viroporins of clinically relevant viruses-influenza A virus, HIV-1, hepatitis C virus, and SARS-CoV-2-and address their importance as therapeutic targets. The sensitivity of these viroporins to common inhibitors and their ability to functionally complement each other underscore their potential as targets for broad-spectrum antiviral therapies.</p>","PeriodicalId":49328,"journal":{"name":"Viruses-Basel","volume":"17 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12197650/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Viruses-Basel","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3390/v17060868","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"VIROLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Viruses encode ion channel proteins called viroporins to assist in infection and immune evasion. The alphavirus 6K protein is classified as a member of the viroporin family of proteins. Several studies have characterized the role of 6K in alphavirus budding and infection since its discovery in the late 1970s. In this review, we summarize 6K research and discuss some unanswered questions regarding 6K biology. We highlight the similarities and differences between 6K and viroporins of clinically relevant viruses-influenza A virus, HIV-1, hepatitis C virus, and SARS-CoV-2-and address their importance as therapeutic targets. The sensitivity of these viroporins to common inhibitors and their ability to functionally complement each other underscore their potential as targets for broad-spectrum antiviral therapies.
期刊介绍:
Viruses (ISSN 1999-4915) is an open access journal which provides an advanced forum for studies of viruses. It publishes reviews, regular research papers, communications, conference reports and short notes. Our aim is to encourage scientists to publish their experimental and theoretical results in as much detail as possible. There is no restriction on the length of the papers. The full experimental details must be provided so that the results can be reproduced. We also encourage the publication of timely reviews and commentaries on topics of interest to the virology community and feature highlights from the virology literature in the ''News and Views'' section. Electronic files or software regarding the full details of the calculation and experimental procedure, if unable to be published in a normal way, can be deposited as supplementary material.