News

Sumana Sanyal  

Redefining how flaviviruses build infectious virions

This project will uncover how mosquito-borne viruses such as dengue and Zika assemble infectious particles at specialised sites inside host cells. The interdisciplinary approach will include advanced proteomics and imaging to map the molecular composition and biogenesis of these sites, and investigate how epidemic outbreak variants adapt to exploit this machinery. By revealing the basic biology of how these globally important viruses are made, this research aims to expose new vulnerabilities that could inform interventions against dengue, Zika and related infections.

Matthew Freeman

Exploiting rhomboid-like proteins to control signalling 

The Freeman lab discovered the rhomboid-like superfamily of membrane proteins and have spent years unearthing their fundamental mechanisms. This new Wellcome grant builds on the group’s past discovery science while also changing direction. The new aim is to exploit the properties of rhomboid-like proteins to develop ways of re-engineering cell signalling.

If successful, this project will allow the fine tuning of signalling processes that control many aspects of disease, for example in inflammation, immunology, and cancer.

Georgia Isom

Enigmatic bacterial sphingolipids; elucidating their biosynthesis, transport and function within the host

Sphingolipids were previously thought to be exclusive to eukaryotic membrane components, with only a handful of unusual bacteria capable of producing them. Recent work has revealed that sphingolipid biosynthesis is widespread across diverse bacteria, and that they are key determinants of membrane homeostasis, antimicrobial resistance and host-pathogen interactions. The Isom lab will answer one of the biggest outstanding questions: how are sphingolipids transported to the bacterial cell surface?

This collaborative grant formalises an international collaboration to investigate bacterial sphingolipids, bridged between Georgia’s lab and the laboratories of Prof Dominic Campopiano (University of Edinburgh), Dr Jon Marles-Wright (Newcastle University), Dr James Connolly (Newcastle University) and Prof Eric Klein (Rutgers University, USA).

Kevin Foster

RNAi in Candida albicans: adaptation, commensalism and pathogenesis

This collaborative project will study how the key fungal pathogen Candida albicans competes with our gut bacteria and capitalise on this research to identify communities that inhibit the growth and virulence of the fungus. The collaboration will also investigate the role of RNAi based regulation in Candida, including its behaviour and ecological success in the gut microbiome. The project is a collaboration with the labs of Professor Alessia Buscaino (Quadram Institute, UK) who is leading the project, and Professor Ana Traven (Monash University, Australia).