Hypothesis: spring-loaded boomerang mechanism of influenza hemagglutinin-mediated membrane fusion

Substantial progress has been made in recent years to augment the current understanding of structures and interactions that promote viral membrane fusion. This progress is reviewed with a particular emphasis on recently determined structures of viral fusion domains and their interactions with lipid membranes. The results from the different structural and thermodynamic experimental approaches are synthesized into a new proposed mechanism, termed the “spring-loaded boomerang” mechanism of membrane fusion, which is presented here as a hypothesis.