Protein interaction topologies regulating virus transmission by insect vectors

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Insect-vectored viruses pose one of the greatest threats to plant and animal, including human, health on a global scale. Viruses use proteins as tools to ensure their own transmission by insects and infection in hosts. Viruses have finely tuned their interactions with host and vector proteins for movement within and between hosts. The term topology is used here to indicate structural and surface features of proteins and their interactions. The investigators will use Protein Interaction Reporter, an innovative technology that couples chemical cross-linking and mass spectrometry, to visualize quantitative and structural information about protein complexes involved in virus transmission and infection. The benefits to society include the development of novel strategies that disrupt virus movement within and between hosts. Few effective control strategies have been developed to thwart transmission of any insect-transmitted virus. Most have negative impacts on the environment and human health and are unsustainable. This project is at the interface of chemistry and biology. Protein Interaction Reporter is a cutting-edge technology that will potentially transform our understanding of how viruses infect and are transmitted by insects. Several examples of novel protein topological information the investigators have already discovered highlight the power of this synergistic approach to further fundamental understanding of molecular pathways, topologies, and interactions involved in virus transmission by insects, yet are far beyond the boundaries of conventional approaches. The investigators will provide advanced training to postdoctoral associates and undergraduate students in biology and chemistry with an emphasis on including trainees from underrepresented groups. They will also hold a grant-writing workshop for scientists who wish to integrate mass spectrometry into their teaching and research programs.