Cell Biology of RNA Viruses

Plus-strand RNA viruses encompass a range of naked or enveloped viruses and are responsible for a plethora of diseases in humans, ranging from acute infections such as hemorrhagic fever (e.g. Dengue virus) to chronic life-long infections and cancer (e.g. hepatitis C virus). Yet, these viruses only have a small genome and often encode no more than a dozen of proteins. To sustain virus replication, this limited set of viral factors establishes a highly complex interaction network with the host cell, thereby hijacking relevant cell resources, while overcoming the host barriers to infection.

Our research aims at better understanding the reciprocal interaction between RNA viruses and their host cell. We are particularly interested in the compartmentalization of viral infection, that is, how viruses use the host cell organelles or induce new compartments to orchestrate their replication cycle. Another facet of our work tackles the compartmentalization of the innate immune response to viral infections. The main goal is on one hand to characterize unifying cellular pathways and compartments hijacked by RNA virus infections and study their potential as therapeutic targets, on the other hand to better dissect the complex biology of the cell, in health and disease, using viruses as tools.