Chasing cellular partners of respiratory syncytial virus

Abstract

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the chief worldwide viral cause of severe acute respiratory tract iIIness in infants and calves. After fifty years of research, there is still no vaccine available for humans. In such context, the development of antiviral drugs with a wide spectrum is an attractive and economical alternative to vaccination. RSV is an enveloped virus and its negative strand RNA genome is encapsidated by the nucleoprotein N, forming a ribonucleoprotein complex. RSV infection induces the formation of spherical inclusion bodies (IBs) found in the cytoplasm of infected cells, and their architecture, ultrastructure, the exact composition, organization and functioning remains unknown. The Brazilian team has already identified some cellular partners for severa I RSV proteins including N, P and M. The French team has identified a cellular partner for M2-1 and developed powerful tools for the dissection of RSV-cell protein interactions. This proposal is based on the collaborative work of severaI groups and our common goal is to characterize virus-cell interactions at the molecular level, to investigate the structure and composition of IBs where viral genome transcription and replication take place using new technologies, and to define molecular targets for the development of antivirals. (AU)