RNA viruses and host factors

As obligate intracellular parasites, RNA viruses are normally restricted to their animal host, having established over long evolutionary periods intimate interactions with cellular host factors. In fact, RNA viruses rely heavily on host factors to complete their lifecycle during translation, transcription or replication of viral genomes. Viral interactions with cellular host factors largely determine the evolutionary success of a virus and the disease it may cause.  Deltaviruses being the smallest known viruses (by genome size) to infect animals, are the “quintessential” viruses, depending almost exclusively on host factors to complete their replication cycle. Using deltaviruses as simple RNA virus models, the aim of our group is to identify and characterize host factors essential for replication of RNA viruses in both human and animal hosts.

For more than 40 years the only known member of deltaviruses was Hepatitis D Virus, a virus with no available antiviral cure, infecting 15 to 20 million individuals worldwide and leading to a very severe form of viral hepatitis and liver cancer. We have known for few years now that HDV-like viruses (referred to as deltaviruses) are present in a variety of animal vectors and reservoirs including bats, rats, snakes, birds, and insects.  Importantly, we now also know that deltaviruses are not restricted to the liver, as previously thought, and can replicate in a variety of animal tissues, possessing a previously unrecognized host shifting capacity. Our group is using and building new molecular tools to study and understand deltavirus infection in both human and animal hosts.