Scientists from the Institute Pasteur and the CNRS, working with the University of Göttingen, have characterized the mechanism used by Rift Valley fever virus to insert one of its envelope proteins into the host cell membrane, thereby enabling it to infect the cell.

They have demonstrated that the viral envelope protein has a "pocket" that specifically recognizes a category of lipids in the cell membrane. This pocket is also found in other human pathogenic viruses transmitted by different mosquitoes, such as the Zika and chikungunya viruses. Understanding these interactions should pave the way for the identification of new therapeutic strategies that target viruses transmitted by these mosquitoes.