The Dynamics of Liquid Organelle Re-modelling in Response to Virus Infection

液体细胞器是无膜的隔间，为不同的细胞过程提供环境。因此，它们可以被病毒劫持以实现病毒复制。沙粒病毒是一种简单的病毒，仅表达4种蛋白质，在感染过程中形成一种液体细胞器（称为应激颗粒）。此外，它们是与医学相关的病毒，因为有些病毒会引起出血热（如拉沙病毒）。本项目旨在通过研究沙粒病毒诱导的应激颗粒形成，了解液体细胞器是如何形成的，这是一个新兴的和知之甚少的主题。为了实现这一目标，该项目将首先确定沙粒病毒诱导的应激颗粒的组成，并将其与来自未感染细胞的应激颗粒进行比较。它将建立一个体外应激颗粒系统，通过添加病毒成分（蛋白质和RNA）和/或通过改变离子条件（反映感染期间发生的生理变化）来操纵该系统。总的来说，该项目将使人们了解这种基本的病毒过程，为未来的治疗提供可能的靶点。

Liquid organelles are membrane-less compartments that provide an environment for different cellular processes. As such, they can be hijacked by viruses to enable virus replication. Arenaviruses are simple viruses that express only 4 proteins and form a type of liquid organelle (termed stress granule) during infection. Additionally, they are medically relevant viruses, as some cause haemorrhagic fevers (like Lassa virus). This project aims to understand how liquid organelles are formed, which is an emerging and poorly understood topic, by studying arenavirus-induced stress granule formation. To achieve this, the project will first determine the composition of Arenavirus-induced stress granules, comparing it to stress granules from non-infected cells. It will establish an in vitro stress-granule system, which will be manipulated by adding viral components (proteins and RNA) and/or by changing the ionic conditions (reflecting physiological changes occurring during infection). Overall, the project will allow an understanding of this essential viral process, providing possible targets for future therapeutics.