RESEARCH INTERESTS

  • How is virus binding and release modulated at the cell surface? How does it work on the molecular level?
  • How do viruses diffuse through the glycocalyx and on the cell surface to reach their entry point for optimal infection? What is the role of multiple ligand-receptor-pairs (multivalency)?
  • What is the role of cell-surface carbohydrates in modulating virus-membrane interactions?

TOOLS

Our lab adopts an interdisciplinary approach to study virus-membrane interactions. It combines advanced biophysical tools, using concepts from chemistry and physics, with cell and molecular biology techniques, including more conventional to the field of virology. This experimental strategy makes it possible to study virus-membrane interactions in a new and more comprehensive way.

Cell-Surface Mimics

Live Cell Imaging and Fluorescence Microscopy

Single Virus Particle Detection and Tracking

 

Surface-based Analytical Instruments

Methods in Virology and Molecular Biology

PROJECTS

Interactions between herpes simplex virus and cell-surface glycosaminoglycans: the role of viral protein -glycosylation and cellular GAGs in modulating virus binding and diffusion.

 

Norovirus – glycolipid interactions: virus binding and release from histo-blood group antigens

 

Apolipoprotein E and infection by Herpes simplex virus type-1: molecular mechanisms behind the role of herpes simplex in Alzheimer’s disease

 

Attachment and entry of pathogenic coronaviruses

 

The role of sulfation patterns in modulting the interaction between human papillomavirus and cell-surface glycosaminoglycans

 

Filovirus interactions at the cell surface: the role of viral and cellular carbohydrates