2026
Volume 26, Number 1, pp. 23-41
Cell-virus binding "tip of the iceberg" pathophysiology: neglecting surface molecular changes causing deadly pathologies is like fiddling while Rome burned
J.N. Mehrishi
Former Department of Radiotherapeutics, University of Cambridge, UK
Viruses need to come close to a cell in order to bind, but electrostatic repulsion between net negatively charged viruses and cells is predicted to prevent them approaching within 40–44 nm. The Brownian motion is not energetic enough to lead to adhesion, for which the virus needs to get less than 0.2 nm close, where Lifshitz–van der Waals forces favour adhesion, for binding, fusion with the membrane and internalization to spread infection. The electrostatic charge arises mainly from the ionized chemical groups of side chains of the amino acids of surface proteins. The protein constitution of the cell membrane may be profoundly altered by viral infection. This alteration can be readily detected by the concomitant change of electrophoretic mobility (EPM) of the cell after infection. This paper aims at reawakening awareness of these concepts and the experimental techniques associated with them.
Keywords: virally-induced surface changes, electrical charge, energy barrier, poliovirus, cell–virus separation, Coxsackie virus-B3, EBV, HSV-I, HSV-II, chicken pest virus, Newcastle disease virus, vaccinia virus