How does a virus get into the cell?

A virus attaches to a specific receptor site on the host cell membrane through attachment proteins in the capsid or via glycoproteins embedded in the viral envelope. The specificity of this interaction determines the host—and the cells within the host—that can be infected by a particular virus.

Viruses initially stick to cell membranes through interactions unrelated to fusion proteins. The virus surfs along the fluid surface of the cell and eventually the viral fusion proteins bind to receptor molecules on the cell membrane (4). If only binding occurred, the two membranes would remain distinct.