Our Vision…

The lack of effective drugs against some of the most common human viral pathogens and delayed vaccine development, together with the emergence of resistant strains, highlight the need for novel antivirals as well as innovative methods to facilitate their discovery. In an attempt to study how viruses affect the host and vice versa, our lab focuses on proteolytic cleavage. Many viruses rely on the cleavage of their proteome by proteases encoded by both the virus and the host. In order to monitor protease activity, the laboratory develops cell-based assays which can be used for the study of proteolysis as well as for the search of antivirals. Exploiting the power of flow cytometry and retroviral technology, we monitor cleavage in different cellular compartments and develop multiplexed applications. We also study the effect of viral infection and viral proteins on signaling cascades, focusing on the NFkappaB cascade and the COP9 signalosome. With HIV-1 and HCV as proof of principle, we work on RNA viruses such as Dengue virus, West Nile virus and Zika virus within the Flaviviridae family or Chikungunya virus within the Togaviridae family.