A new European project coordinated in the Basque Country by Juan Fontana will investigate how bunyaviruses reorganise human cells and convert them into structures where new viruses are produced and assembled.
The five-year initiative is funded by Wellcome and brings together the University of Leeds, the Biofisika Institute and the Nova Institute for Medical Systems Biology. Fontana will coordinate the work carried out at Biofisika.
Bunyaviruses include pathogens responsible for serious illnesses such as Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever. Although they create viral factories that are essential for replication, the mechanisms responsible for this cellular reorganisation are still poorly understood.
The consortium will combine molecular biology, proteomics, artificial intelligence and electron microscopy to identify weaknesses that could be used to block infection. Understanding viral-factory formation may support future treatments for emerging and re-emerging viruses.
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Wellcome supports discovery research in life, health and wellbeing and funds ambitious scientific ideas addressing major health challenges, including infectious disease.
