Roles of virus-integrin interactions and rotavirus modulation of host cell responses in viral pathogenesis

Funded Activity Summary

Rotaviruses are the main cause of severe gastroenteritis in children, and cause 1 in 27 Australian children under the age of 5 years to spend time in hospital. There is currently no rotavirus vaccine available. We aim to discover how rotavirus interacts with host cells. This information is necessary to formulate a safe and effective vaccine, or a therapeutic agent that can block virus growth in host cells. Previously, we showed that rotavirus attaches to cells and enters them using several members of the integrin protein family that are present on the surface of the cells. Integrins are critical for cell adhesion, survival and communication. In this project, we will identify how rotavirus usage of integrins modulates cell functions. This will help us understand how rotavirus causes disease, how virus spreads in the body and how the immune response defends us from rotavirus. Rotavirus binds integrins using particular stretches of protein sequence that we have shown are also present in other human viral pathogens that cause hepatitis, AIDS and measles. We will determine if these other viruses also recognize integrins.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2005

End Date: 01-01-2007

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Project Grants

Funding Amount: $474,000.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Medical Virology

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

There are no SEO codes available for this funding activity

Other Keywords

hepatitis, measles and HIV-1 | integrin ligands | rotavirus gastroenteritis | rotavirus infection and pathogenesis | rotavirus receptors and coreceptors | rotavirus tropism and extraintestinal spread | targets for antivirals and vaccines | virus infection and pathogenesis | virus modulation of host immune responses | virus usage of integrins as receptors

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