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InnateLab

Immunopathology of Virus Infections

TRR353: Death Decisions funded!

We are excited that our collaborative research center Transregio “Cell death decisions” (TRR353) has been approved for funding. TRR353 focuses on innovative and groundbreaking research related to the regulation of cell death decisions. Together with our colleagues at the University of Konstanz and the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, we will study how, why and when cells decide to die and how this can be exploited for therapeutic purposes. This funding will allow us to study the regulatory mechanisms of oxeiptosis, and the relationship of oxpeiptosis to other cell death pathways.

We are hiring PhD students for this project soon, so keep your eyes open!

Text by Lara.

Targeting host 2’O-methyltransferases to suppress Influenza virus

We are proud to be part of the massive effort, spearheaded by Hiroki Kato and his team from Bonn, that revealed the critical role of the host RNA 2’O-methyltransferase MTr1 in influenza A/B cap-snatching! The activity of MTr1 is pivotal for Influenza A and B but not for other cap-snatching viruses and can be inhibited by a host-directed small molecule to achieve an antiviral effect through a novel mechanism.

Congratulations to Hiroki Kato in Bonn and collaborators for the fabulous manuscript published in Science!

Read more here: Inhibition of cellular RNA methyltransferase abrogates influenza virus capping and replication

Text by Valter and illustration by Andreas.

Excellence initiative CiViA is funded!

Our colleagues from Aarhus University and us got funding for our joint excellence initiative Center for Immunology of Viral infections (CiViA). The Danish National Research Foundation will sponsor this initiative for up to 10 years!

In CiViA, we aim to discover novel antiviral mechanisms and unravel the decisive factors between protective and pathological immune responses. Moreover, besides providing spectacular infrastructure, we will team up with philosophers to prepare for the next paradigm shifts. We look forward to exciting times ahead!

Read more here: https://biomed.au.dk/civia

Text by Andreas.

New host factors mediating SARS-CoV-2 entry and pathogenesis

This amazing study also reports repurposed ADAM inhibitors exerting antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 and its related variants of concern both in vitro and ex vivo. Such knowledge will help to develop new therapies to fight against COVID-19 as ADAM17 and ADAM10 expression correlates with disease severity in patients.

Congratulations to Vincent and Sabri, our collaborators from the Lichtenthaler’s lab and all authors!

Read more here: ADAM10 and ADAM17 promote SARS-CoV-2 cell entry and spike protein-mediated lung cell fusion

Text and illustration by Vincent.