"Investigating Virus-host Interactions via Microscopy"

Philip Santangelo, PhD - Assistant Professor, Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering

Currently, the spatial distribution of many viral proteins and nucleic acids in infected cells is still under investigation, with many unanswered questions regarding the interaction of virus-induced structures and the innate immune system. Very few studies have used subcellular imaging as a means to explore the changes in localization of RIG-I-like receptors or the mitochondrial antiviral signaling protein, in response to viral infections and the formation of viral structures. Recently we explored the changes in the localization of innate immune molecules in response to human respiratory syncytial virus, the leading cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia in children under 1 year of age.  To our surprise, we found that virus-induced structures were playing a role in antagonizing the immune response, resulting in significantly decreased interferon levels. In this talk, I'll introduce the methods used for investigating virus-host interactions using microscopy, and discuss in detail the results and ramifications of our investigations on hRSV infections.


The IBB Breakfast Club seminar series was started with the spirit of the Institute's interdisciplinary mission in mind and started to feature local IBB faculty member's research in a seminar format. Faculty are often asked to speak at other universities and conferences, but rarely present at their home institution, this seminar series is an attempt to close that gap. The IBB Breakfast Club is open to anyone in the bio-community.