ERC Starting Grant for research Utrecht University on viruses

Viruses with small RNA genomes can have a significant impact on global public health. A prime example of such pathogens are Noroviruses, which in the Netherlands alone, sicken over half a million individuals each year. For vulnerable individuals, infections can be severe and potentially life-threatening. At present, no vaccines or antivirals are available to combat these infectious agents.

Challenging prospect

Despite their relatively simple makeup, small RNA viruses can completely rewire our cells during infection, transforming them into viral replication factories. Within these replication sites, viral proteins and hijacked cellular proteins form replication complexes that serve as platforms for the assembly of new virus particles. However, a detailed understanding of what these replication complexes look like is lacking, in part due to the difficulty of purifying these complexes. An alternative possibility is to study these complexes inside the infected cell, but the small size of these complexes makes this a challenging prospect.

Replication machinery

With the ERC project PicAAA, Hurdiss will study critical components of the viral replication machinery, with a particular focus on Noroviruses. Together with his team, he will develop ways to assemble components of the replication machinery in a test tube, and also develop new methods to locate these virus assembly sites within the context of infected cells. Finally, molecules that interfere with components of the Norovirus replication machinery will be developed.

Paving the way for new therapies

This project will combine biochemistry, molecular virology, and state-of-the-art microscopy techniques to provide new fundamental insights into how small RNA viruses copy their genomes and package these into new virus particles. This project will pave the way for the development of new antiviral therapies.

About the ERC starting grants

The European Research Council (ERC) awards Starting Grants to young scientists and scholars across Europe. It will help the researchers to launch their own projects, form their teams and pursue their most promising ideas.

Source: Utrecht University