Alphavirus 6K is a short, constitutive membrane protein involved in virus glycoprotein
processing, membrane permeabilization, and the budding of virus particles. The amino-
terminal region that immediately precedes the transmembrane anchor contains a conserved
sequence motif consisting of two interfacial domains separated by Asn and Gln residues.
The presence of this motif confers on the 6K pretransmembrane region the tendency to
partition into the membrane interface. To study the functional importance of the interfacial …