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Center for Nonlinear Studies |
Influenza virus is the cause of substantial annual disease and occasional pandemics. It is thus a known public health threat and a good model for understanding emerging viral infections such as Zika. We use a combination of molecular modeling and biophysical experiments to elucidate influenza viral entry mechanisms, with the goals of mechanistic understanding and enhanced ability to understand and treat future pandemics. Protein-membrane interactions play a particularly important role in influenza entry, and cholesterol acts at multiple stages to affect viral infectivity. I will discuss the mechanistic basis for some of these interactions probed via molecular dynamics simulations and experiments and the ways in which experiments, simulations, and quantitative kinetic models can be used together for mechanistic insight into viral entry.
Host: Angel Garcia