Receptor Binding and Inhibition of Glycan-binding Polyomaviruses

我们的团队对病毒附着的研究有着长期的兴趣，特别关注聚糖结合病毒。病毒-聚糖相互作用研究的最新进展使得可以使用聚糖阵列筛选快速鉴定特异性受体，使用蛋白质晶体学和NMR光谱学定义病毒-聚糖相互作用的原子水平结构，并合理化突变以确定聚糖结合在疾病发病机制中的精确作用。在这个建议中，我们将定义特定多瘤病毒的受体结合特性，包括JC多瘤病毒和新表征的多瘤病毒。目的是建立聚糖结合的规则，使我们能够调节病毒受体特异性，以重新定位它们并表征它们的进入途径。这些知识也将成为设计抗病毒药物的基础。

Our group has a long-standing interest in the studies of viral attachment, with a particular focus on glycan-binding viruses. Recent advances in studies of virus-glycan interactions have made it possible to rapidly identify specific receptors using glycan array screening, define the atomic level structure of the virus-glycan interaction using protein crystallography and NMR spectroscopy, and rationalize mutations to determine the precise effect of glycan binding in disease pathogenesis. In this proposal, we will define the receptor-binding properties of specific polyomaviruses, including JC polyomavirus and newly characterized polyomaviruses. The objective is to establish rules of glycan binding and enable us to modulate virus receptor specificities in order to retarget them and characterize their entry pathways. This knowledge will also form a basis for designing anti-viral agents.