Integrative Virology

The attachment of viruses to the cell, their entry, uncoating, biosynthesis, assembly, and release, all involve the formation of protein-protein interactions between the viral proteins themselves and between viral and host proteins. Thus, it is of great biomedical interest to understand the structure of complexes formed by these interactions, with the aim of designing antiviral therapies that can block them, or alternatively re-engineer viruses for use as targeted delivery vehicles. In recent years, the use of integrative, information-driven approaches for modeling structures of complexes such as those formed by viruses in cells has been increasing in popularity. The Research Department of Integrative Virology applies an integrated systems biology approach that combines computational and experimental methods specifically designed to achieve a comprehensive picture of viral infections, with specific focus on cryoEM, mass spectrometry-based proteomics and bioinformatics.

^{Picture: Inferred herpesviral central interactome. The network was obtained by compiling PPIs taking place among core proteins in at least two of the reconstructed networks for HSV-1, HCMV, and EBV.}