Seminar

Ricchi & Poveri: the why, the how and the what of an integrative structural virology lab

Nicola Abrescia, PhD

Viruses permeate the entire biosphere. Some of them are pathogens to humans and animals while others are allied to humans in infecting and controlling bacteria proliferation. Our research aims to understand viral pathogenesis, the virus-cell recognition mechanisms and the assembly principles of viruses as a means to control and manipulate them. In this lecture we will illustrate some of our research activities and the armour of structural methods that enable us to ‘see’ proteins, whole viruses and/or cells implicated in the assembly and in the protein-protein recognition processes at different resolution scale: from few angstroms to nanometers. Finally, we will conclude by presenting our ongoing studies on Schmallenberg virus, an animal pathogen recently discovered in Europe and with the potential for serious impact on farm economies.