Systems Arbovirology
Arboviruses are a prime reason for mortality worldwide, posing a global public health challenge given their widespread diffusion and the lack of broad-spectrum antivirals for prophylactic or therapeutic use.
The junior research group Systems Arbovirology headed by Dr. Pietro Scaturro investigates how pathogenic arboviruses manipulate and harness their hosts using modern bottom-up mass spectrometry-based (MS) methods, high-resolution imaging and molecular virology approaches within the program area Molecular mechanisms of viral pathogenesis.
The main goal of the research unit is to better understand the complex interplay between different arboviruses and their mammalian and arthropod hosts, to understand the fundamental biology unique to each arbovirus and identify new sub- and pan-arboviral targets for therapeutic approaches (program area Innovative Targets and Strategies).
Currently, the junior research group aims to systematically profile hundreds of new host factors across multiple arboviral species of the Flavivirus genus and to study their relevance for viral pathogenesis in vitro and in vivo.