New findings help scientists understand how viruses enter host cells in unprecedented detail

Researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and the Medical Center – University of Freiburg have developed a method that can be used to study the interaction of viruses with host cells in unprecedented detail. This scientific breakthrough is helping scientists to get a much clearer view of how viruses enter human cells. The new results not only provide detailed insights into the biology of influenza viruses, but also form a methodological basis for investigating the entry mechanisms of potential pandemic pathogens in a more targeted manner - and thus identifying new targets for antiviral therapies - to be applied in the COMBINE project.

Together COMBINE coordinator Christian Sieben (Group Nanoscale Infection Biology) and Mark Brönstrup (Group Chemical Biology) from HZI, developed a universal protocol to investigate how viruses communicate with host cells.

“The advantage of our ‘upside-down’ experimental setup is that the viruses interact with cells but do not enter them - the critical moment of initial cell contact is thus stabilized and can be analyzed,” says Sieben.

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