Virology meets proteomics: defining the spatiotemporal interplay between virus and host

Our laboratory is poised at the interface of virology and proteomics, and aims to understand the mechanisms that control the fate of cells under invasion by pathogens. We apply multidisciplinary approaches to study the dynamic relationships between virus and host, and work to define both cellular defense mechanisms and viral manipulations that inhibit or hijack host cell processes. By integrating mass spectrometry-based proteomics with molecular virology, microscopy, and bioinformatics, we continue to develop comprehensive proteomics-based approaches for characterizing virus-host interplay. We are currently exploring several areas of interest:

• Mechanisms of sensing pathogenic DNA within the nuclei of infected cells and propagation of the subsequent intrinsic and innate immune responses, as well as viral evasion strategies
• Global remodeling of the subcellular landscape and cellular organelles as viral infection progresses
• Investigating how viruses influence uninfected cells in their microenvironment to promote viral spread
• Developing targeted and large-scale proteomic tools for quantifying proteins and posttranslational modifications, identifying protein interactions, determining the specificity of interactions, defining distinct protein complexes, and measuring the relative stability of interactions across infection time
• Generating machine-learning pipelines for prediction of protein-protein interactions and protein shuttling events upon infection.
• Beyond pathogen infections, we also are actively elucidating the cellular pathology of Huntington's disease via a partnership with the CHDI Foundation, uncovering how organelle remodeling drives intra- and inter-cellular communication within the virus microenvironment via a partnership with the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, exploring the molecular determinants of mammalian heart disease by working closely with the group of Dr. Frank Conlon (UNC Chapel Hill), and fostering multidisciplinary collaborations with research groups across the globe

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