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SUMMARY:EPFL BioE Talks SERIES  "Zooming in on Coronavirus Replication Org
 anelles"
DTSTART:20210927T160000
DTEND:20210927T170000
DTSTAMP:20260427T215222Z
UID:70040aba998508632cc3074a31e3ac4b9aa6464db30f5ab9ed1c0ecc
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Prof. Montserrat Bárcena\, Leiden University Medical Center\,
  Leiden (NL)\nWEEKLY EPFL BIOE TALKS SERIES\n\nAbstract:\nViruses are mast
 er manipulators of the cells and exploit cellular resources and pathways i
 n a variety of ways. A striking example is the hijacking and remodeling of
  intracellular membranes by positive-strand RNA viruses\, a group that inc
 ludes notorious human pathogens like coronaviruses\, enteroviruses or flav
 iviruses. The membrane structures induced by these viruses support the syn
 thesis of viral RNA and are often referred to as viral replication organel
 les. Until recently\, the structural characterization of viral replication
  organelles has been restricted to room-temperature EM samples. While thes
 e techniques provided a wealth of information about the architecture of th
 ese virus-induced membrane structures and the localization of molecular pl
 ayers\, they have often raised key new questions. A paradigmatic example a
 re the replication organelles of coronaviruses. Coronaviruses induce typic
 al double-membrane vesicles (DMVs)\, inside which viral RNA synthesis is p
 resumed to take place. Strikingly\, coronaviral DMVs appeared to be closed
  compartments and therefore it was unclear how newly made viral RNA could 
 be exported to the cytosol for translation and packaging into new virions.
  Cryo-EM and cellular cryotomography allowed us to revisit and analyze cor
 onavirus-induced DMVs at macromolecular resolution. Our data unveiled a mo
 lecular pore complex spanning the two membranes of the DMVs that contains 
 six copies of the largest viral transmembrane non-structural protein\, nsp
 3\, and could provide the long-sought gateway for viral RNA export. Additi
 onal work by our group and others suggests that viral oligomeric complexes
  controlling the traffic from/to viral replication organelles may well be 
 a common theme across positive-strand RNA viruses. This new class of viral
  complexes offers novel targets for future antiviral interventions.\n\nBio
 :\nDr. Montse Bárcena is an Assistant Professor at the Section Electron M
 icroscopy (EM) in the Department of Cell and Chemical Biology at the Leide
 n University Medical Center (LUMC) in The Netherlands. Imaging techniques 
 have been a central tool in her research since the beginning of her career
 \, when she investigated helicases by single particle analysis in the grou
 p of Prof. José María Carazo. After receiving her PhD in Madrid (Univers
 idad Autónoma) and a stay in Prof. Teresa Ruiz’s lab at Vermont Univers
 ity as a Fulbright postdoctoral fellow\, she joined the group of Prof. Bra
 m Koster in The Netherlands with an EMBO (2003) and a Marie Curie fellowsh
 ip (2005). Since then\, she has been investigating viruses and viral infec
 tion. In 2010\, she established her own group\, which focuses on the repli
 cation of positive-strand RNA viruses like coronaviruses and picornaviruse
 s. These viruses replicate on distinct membrane structures generated in th
 e cytoplasm of the host cell during infection. These viral replication org
 anelles are the working environment of the viral replication machinery and
  therefore the cradle for viral evolution. The Bárcena group aims at gett
 ing new insight into the poorly understood biogenesis\, structure and func
 tion of these remarkable virus-induced structures\, which could lead to no
 vel antiviral strategies.  Her lab uses a comprehensive multiscale and mu
 ltimodal imaging approach\, combining classic EM techniques with advanced 
 methods like 3D-SEM\, CLEM and cellular cryotomography.\n\n\nZoom link (wi
 th registration) for attending remotely: https://go.epfl.ch/EPFLBioETalks\
 n\n\nIMPORTANT NOTICE: due to restrictions resulting from the ongoing Covi
 d-19 pandemic\, this seminar can be followed via Zoom web-streaming only\,
  (following prior one-time registration through the link above).
LOCATION:via Zoom web-streaming only\, due to Covid-19 pandemic https://go
 .epfl.ch/EPFLBioETalks https://go.epfl.ch/EPFLBioETalks
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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