Agenda de l'ENS de Lyon

– Cross-species transmissions of viruses are at the origin of major human pathogens, like the lentiviral HIV. However, these events are relatively rare implying that biological barriers may confer resistance to viral emergence. Viruses are obligatory intracellular parasites that interact with multiple cellular proteins. These viral interacting proteins (VIPs) are usurped by the virus for its replication, or are antiviral defenses (restriction factors) directly recognizing the virus and/or being counteracted by the pathogen. These sets of antagonistic interactions lead over evolutionary time to genetic conflicts, where both the virus and the host evolve very rapidly at the interface.
– In my Research Program, we want to understand how ancient (and ongoing) virus-host interactions have shaped the host genome & therefore the species-specificity of viruses. We further want to characterize how viruses may successfully evolve & adapt to a new species.
– To address these objectives, we use evolutionary analyses to understand the selective processes and to drive our hypotheses that we directly test in experimental functional assays of virus-host interactions. This original blend allows us to leverage major scientific questions in the field of HIV and infectious diseases.
– In this HDR, I present some previous findings, as well as our current research projects. Our most recent work also extends to the study of genetic conflicts involving other viruses (HBV) and other host species (bats) in collaboration with experts.