Virus structure at the MRC University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research

This week Nature has published a special collection of articles 'Nature Outlook', focussed on Respiratory Syncytial Virus. Several commentaries cite recent work from CVR researchers showing that RSV can from hybrid virions when they infect cells at the same time as influenza A virus. Pablo Murcia's research on co-infections is unlocking a new and exciting area of virology!

Respiratory syncytial virus Every parent fears the onset of the cold-like symptoms caused by the common respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

Applications are now open for the BBSRC NorthWestBio Doctoral Training Programme - including the opportunity to undertake a project supervised by myself and Ultan Power of Queens University Belfast, using cryo-electron tomography to study respiratory virus assembly in organotypic 3D culture systems.

University of Glasgow - Colleges - College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences - Graduate School - NorthWest Bio NorthWest Bio is a new BBSRC-funded doctoral training partnership. Discover more about the programme and how to apply.

Our latest preprint describes our study of respiratory syncytial virus induced cellular compartments. We used a combination of 3D imaging modalities from confocal fluorescence microscopy, through soft X-ray tomography to cryo-electron tomography to investigate a novel membranous organelle. A fantastic collaboration with the laboratories of Rachel Fearns, Phillip Santangelo and Becky Dutch, with cutting edge microscopy at Diamond Light Source’s eBIC and B24.

Ultrastructural characterization of a viral RNA and G-protein containing, membranous organelle formed in respiratory syncytial virus infected cells Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of respiratory disease in infants and the elderly. In common with most viruses that replicate in the host cell cytoplasm, RSV induces the formation of cytoplasmic compartments within infected cells to sequester replicative processes from host coun...

Seeking Black British aspiring Virologists to join the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research (CVR).

The University of Glasgow James McCune Smith Scholarship supports Black British students to undertake fully-funded four year PhD research projects https://www.gla.ac.uk/scholarships/mccune-smith/

We are welcoming applications for James McCune Scholarship to study at the CVR, where we are training the next generation of scientists and leaders in virology research https://www.gla.ac.uk/research/az/cvr/. We will help you identify potential supervisors and will support you in writing your application. Any interested candidates should contact Dr. Joe Grove ([email protected]).

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It is becoming increasingly clear that viruses interact with each other - sometimes one virus suppresses another, sometimes they come together causing altered disease states. In this latest study, led by Pablo Murcia, we show that when two important respiratory viruses (influenza and respiratory syncytial virus) infect the same cell, the progeny virions can contain the proteins and genomes of both parental viruses. This leads to altered tropism and immune evasion.
Beautiful and surprising work from CVR PhD student Jo Haney.

Coinfection by influenza A virus and respiratory syncytial virus produces hybrid virus particles - Nature Microbiology Chimeric particles are formed when influenza A virus and respiratory syncytial virus coinfect lung cells in vitro.

Our latest work in collaboration with colleagues at Leeds University - Fibrils formed by active RNA polymerase of foot and mouth disease virus were made by Eleni-Anna Loundras. We prepared them for cryo-EM, and imaged them first on our JEOL 2200 and then at the Astbury Biostructure Labs. Calculating cryo-EM maps of these dynamic helical structures was challenging, but provided interesting insights into their structure, leading us to discover that dimerisation in these higher-order assemblies is important for viral replication.

Higher-order structures of the foot-and-mouth disease virus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase required for genome replication - Communications Biology Loundras et al. report on the fibril components of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase RdRp from foot-and-mouth disease virus. They demonstrate that higher-order fibril-based interactions create multiple complex structures within which RNA replication can occur.

Co-infection with more than one respiratory virus is common, particularly in children. This amazing paper from the Murcia laboratory at the CVR shows that cells infected with both influenza virus and respiratory syncytial virus can produce hybrid virus particles that contain genomes of both viruses as well as having the envelope glycoproteins of both. They can therefore infect cells that are susceptible to either virus….
Beautiful light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and cryotomography, with substantial input from our own Swetha Vijayakrishnan.

Generation of chimeric respiratory viruses with altered tropism by coinfection of influenza A virus and respiratory syncytial virus Interactions between co-circulating respiratory viruses are recognized for their impact on viral transmission and clinical outcomes. However, the consequences of these virus-virus interactions at the cellular level are unclear. We coinfected human lung cells with influenza A virus (IAV) and respirat...

Respiratory Syncytial Virus causes severe illness - bronchiolitis in young children and pneumonia in the elderly. This leads to many 10s of thousands of deaths every year, indeed some estimates put the annual death toll at >100k.
In our latest preprint, we provide a detailed structural characterisation of the filamentous RSV virion, revealing several surprising features that may have profound implications for the biology of the virus and scope for developing interventions.

Helical Ordering of Envelope Associated Proteins and Glycoproteins in Respiratory Syncytial Virus Filamentous Virions Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes severe respiratory illness in children and the elderly. Treatments for RSV disease are however limited and efforts to produce an effective vaccine have so far been unsuccessful. Understanding RSV virion structure is an important prerequisite for develop...

Saddened to learn of the devastating fire that has hit the beautiful campus of University of Cape Town. Our thoughts are with our colleagues and friends at UCT.

Table Mountain fire: Historic buildings destroyed in Cape Town The University of Cape Town's library and a historic windmill are hit as all students are evacuated.

Our paper describing the structure of vesivirus 2117 is now published online ahead of print in the Journal of Virology!

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