UMR7212 / U944 “Molecular Virology and Pathology”
Team Biology of Emerging Viruses
Research area of the Unit Viruses are obligate intracellular parasites that intimately rely on host cell machinery to accomplish their infectious life cycle. Our group is interested in deciphering the molecular interactions that occur between viruses and their host cells during infection. We investigate how viruses enter target cells and how they utilize the cellular machinery to replicate their genome and produce infectious particles. As a model, our lab studies flaviviruses [dengue virus, yellow fever virus and Zika virus], a group of important emerging or re-emerging pathogens that are transmitted to humans by mosquitoes and cause severe diseases. For these, we utilize a number of cellular, molecular, and virological techniques with state-of-the-art technologies such as loss and gain of function screening, advanced proteomics, gene expression analysis and live cell microscopy. Our particular interests is to discover novel mechanisms by which viruses hijack host cell functions to facilitate their entry, replication, and spread.
