Tetherin, also known as bone marrow stromal antigen 2, is a lipid raft associated protein that in humans is encoded by the BST2 gene. This protein is constitutively expressed in mature B cells, plasma cells and plasmacytoid dendritic cells, and in many other cells, it is only expressed as a response to stimuli from IFN pathway. Tetherin is known to block many different types of enveloped viruses by tethering the budding virus like particles (VLPs) and inhibiting them from leaving the cell surface. Studies have shown that it is not the amino acid sequence, but the topology of tetherin is required for the tethering of virions on the cell surface.
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