Cellular Control of Virus Infection in Eukaryotes

Control of virus infection is central to the health and survival of all organisms. In order to achieve this control, hosts elaborate myriad defense strategies that sense, suppress, and resolve viral infection. My lab focuses on understanding what these defense strategies are and how they are regulated in different eukaryotic organisms. In mammals and other vertebrates, we seek to understand how the antiviral interferon response is regulated. Specifically, how a cell is able to mitigate the detection of self-produced nucleic acids which resemble viral pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) that potently activate the interferon response, and how the transcriptional machinery controls activation of the interferon response. In single-cell eukaryotes, such as amoeba, we seek to discover the strategies by which these organisms detect and resolve virus infection with an eye towards greater understanding of basic biology and potential biotechnological applications. After viewing this lecture, participants should be able to: 1. Identify how viruses trigger the Type I Interferon response in human cells. 2. Recognize the pathological outcomes of a dysregulated interferon response. 3. Explain how the host cell mitigates activation of the interferon response in the absence of virus infection.

Tristan Jordan, PhD Assistant Professor Departments of Microbiology and Laboratory Medicine & Pathology University of Washington

04/19/23

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