Projects

Regulatory RNAs play important roles in the control of gene expression. A major scientific milestone
in the study of regulatory small (s)RNAs was the discovery of RNA interference (RNAi), which
resulted in the Nobel Prize for Fire and Mello (2006). This process is triggered by double stranded
RNA and results in sequence-specific post-transcriptional gene silencing. In insects, the most
speciose class of animals, RNAi ...

Regulatory RNAs play important roles in the control of gene expression. A major scientific milestone in the study of regulatory small (s)RNAs was the discovery of RNA interference (RNAi), which resulted in the Nobel Prize for Fire and Mello (2006). This process is triggered by double stranded RNA and results in sequence-specific post-transcriptional gene silencing. In insects, the most speciose class of animals, RNAi constitutes the main ...

RNA(i) interference is a post-transcriptional gene silencing mechanism mediated by small (s)RNA molecules. In short, sRNAs are incorporated into an RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC), which is then directed to a messenger RNA target via Watson-Crick base pairing. Subsequently, the effector protein of RISC, namely an Argonaute protein, acts to inhibit or degrade the specific transcript, resulting in suppressed gene expression. ...

The role of the unfolded protein response (UPR) in immune cell functioning is incompletely understood. We recently found that the IRE-1/XBP-1 axis - one of the main branches of the UPR – is constitutively active and required for the function of one specific subset of dendritic cells (DCs) that is specialized in antigen crosspresentation during viral infections. IRE-1 has both endonuclease and kinase activity. Its main substrate is the ...

MALT1 is an intracellular protease that has so far mainly been studied in the context of antigen induced signaling in lymphocytes. In this project we aim to study the role of MALT1 in innate immunity against viral infection. We will concentrate on the role of MALT1 in antiviral signaling in response to specific pathogen recognition receptors.

RNA interference (RNAi) is an important mechanism whereby insects obtain immunity against viral infections. However, most research on insect RNAi has focused on the intracellular aspects of the corresponding mechanisms. In my thesis, I will explore the means whereby RNAi-mediated immunity spreads systemically among the insect's cells, using the lepidopteran model Helicoverpa armigera.

Herpes viruses are omnipresent in the human population and cause a range of benign but unpleasant diseases. However, in a small percentage of people, infections with herpes viruses become recurrent or invasive resulting in increased morbidity and mortality. The quintessential example is herpes encephalitis (HSE) that causes neurological sequela in most patients and lethality up to 25% even with appropriate antiviral treatment. The immune ...

Dengue viruses (DENV) are single-stranded positive-sense RNA viruses that belong to the family of the Flaviviridae, together with other important human pathogens (e.g. yellow fever virus and West Nile virus). Dengue is currently considered to be the most important arthropod-borne vial disease in humans. Four genetically distinct, but serologically related serotypes (DENV 1-4) are transmitted to humans by mosquitoes of the ...

This project focuses on exploring the use of HAE cultures to study the treatment of viral respiratory infections. HAE cultures will be used to evaluate novel antiviral strategies to combat Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) infection and explore the kinetics of replication of different RSV virus strains. This will result in an optimized culture system to be used to characterize viral strains in a relevant ex vivo system and link viral ...

The study of antiviral mechanisms stands as important as ever. In insects, the largest and most diverse class of animals, antiviral immunity mainly relies on virus-derived small RNAs (sRNAs), in a process generally known as RNA interference (RNAi). Specifically, virus-derived sRNAs are incorporated into RNA-induced silencing complexes, to find target viral transcripts by Watson-Crick base pairing. At this point, the targeted viral transcripts ...