Contribution of human and viral factors to dengue virus assembly

As deadly as it can sometimes be, a virus is “just” a bit of genetic material, wrapped in a protein package. In order to fight the virus that causes dengue fever, Dr. Fanny Turlure wants to disrupt the step in its life cycle when this package assembles. To do so, she is focusing on the role of a packaging protein and the viral and human factors that interact with it. Elucidating the basics of virus assembly could lead to blocking it and a new approach to treatment for this disease threatening 2.5 billion people.
A key step in the virus life cycle is assembly, a process during which structural and genetic components of the virus come together to form viral particles that will be released from infected cells. This process has to be tightly regulated both spatially and temporally. Dengue has become a major threat to public health. My focus is to understand the contribution of the dengue capsid protein to assembly, using molecular virology, confocal microscopy and biochemistry Where does capsid localize in infected cells, and which human and viral factors are involved in assembly are the questions I investigate.