呼吸道合胞病毒(respiratory syncytial virus，RSV)是引起婴幼儿急性下呼吸道感染最常见与最重要的病毒病原，在全球范围造成了巨大的疾病负担。遗憾的是，迄今尚没有安全有效的特异性防治措施。近年来，国际及国内对RSV的致病机制有了深入研究，通过对该领域的不断探索来寻求新的药物及疫苗靶点一直是研究热点。该文从RSV病毒颗粒形态与结构、病毒蛋白结构与功能、宿主免疫应答三个方面综述RSV致病机制的研究进展，旨在进一步加深对RSV致病机制的认识，并为RSV感染治疗的研究提供新的思路。“,”Respiratory syncytial virus is a leading cause of acute lower respiratory infection(ALRI)in infants and young children, remains a significant burden to global health.Unfortunately, no effective treatments or vaccine has been developed.However, in recent years, there has been substantial advance in understanding the pathogenic mechanism of RSV, which is always a research hotspot to seek drug and vaccine targets.This review summarizes the progress in the RSV particles structure, viral protein function and the host immune response, and hopes to describe a clearer understanding of RSV pathogenic mechanism which is essential for developing interventions.