Institute for Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio)


Home

Publications

Tools



University of Valencia

Genetics Department

I2SysBio


 

 VSV aggregate by TEM              
                        


Virus evolution (Sanjuán lab)

Viruses

Viruses are excellent model systems for addressing basic evolutionary questions because they evolve fast in the lab, allowing us to do 'real time' evolutionary analyses. Viral evolution is also interesting per se, since it helps explaining disease emergence, drug resistance, immune escape, and other biomedically relevant processes. Moreover, viral evolution can be harnessed for applied research goals, such as improving the efficacy of therapeutic viruses used in cancer and for combating drug-resistant bacteria. We have recently worked with several viruses.


Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), a negative-stranded RNA virus belonging to the family Rhabdoviridae. As most RNA viruses, it has a small genome, a high per-base mutation rate, and low tolerance to mutations. In the wild, VSV is a concern for farmers in regions where it can infect livestock. In the lab, it has been extensively used as a tool for experimental evolution and for pseudotyping and vaccine production, among other applications. VSV also exhibits a natural tropism towards cancer cells, which has motivated research into its use as an oncolytic agent. We have shown that VSV virions can aggregate and be co-transmitted to the same cells, forming "collective infectious units".


Enteroviruses, a large genus of plus-strand RNA viruses, including poliovirus, coxsackieviruses, and rhinovirurses. Enteroviruses can use lipid vesicles for cell-to-cell transmission. This increases levels of coinfection and promotes virus-virus interactions.

SARS-CoV-2. We have analyzed wastewaters by RT-qPCR as a method for early and cost-effective epidemiological surveillance. We have also tested different compounds for their potential anti-viral activity. Third, we are collaborating with companies for testing virucidals. Finally, in the lab, we use VSV pseudotypes to investigate SARS-CoV-2 spike properties under BSL-2 conditions.

Bacteriophages
. We are investigating phage-phage social-like interactions and how these interactions could help us design better phage cocktails for combating multi-drug-resistant bacteria.











Universitat de València, 2023