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Walther Mothes
Associate Professor
Microbial Pathogenesis
Ph.D. Humboldt University
Berlin 1998
walther.mothes@yale.edu
phone: (203) 737-2203 |
Research Interests: Cell
Biology of Retroviral Replication
Our laboratory works on the cell biological aspects of retroviral replication.
Retroviruses are small particles of about 100 nm that carry a viral
RNA genome surrounded by a viral capsid and a membrane envelope. Given
their simple composition, retroviruses depend on cellular processes
throughout their replication cycle. In addition, viral replication evolved
in the presence of a strong innate and adaptive immune defense. Thus, retroviral replication
is the result of a complex interdependence of viral biology, the utilization
of cellular biological machineries and immune evasion.
To understand the retroviral life cycle we apply an imaging approach complemented by cell biological, genetic and biochemical techniques. Live cell imaging allows us to monitor how viral components come together during assembly, to understand how viruses are transmitted from cell to cell, to determine when and where retroviruses infect cells and finally, to analyze at which point antiviral factors interfere with these individual steps.
Selected References
Sherer, N.M., Lehmann, N.M., Jimenez-Soto, L.F., Horensavitz, C., Pypert, M., and Mothes, W. (2007). Retroviruses can establish filopodial bridges for efficient cell-to-cell transmission. Nature Cell Biol. 9(3), 310-315. PDF Movies
Lehmann, M.J., Sherer, N.M., Marks, C.B. Pypaert, M., and Mothes, W.
(2005). Actin- and myosin-driven lateral movement of viruses along filopodia
precedes their entry into cells. J.
Cell Biol. 170(2), 317-325. PDF
Melikyan, G.B., Barnard
R.J.O., Abrahamyan, L.G., Mothes, W., and Young, J.A.T. (2005). Imaging
individual retroviral fusion events: From hemifusion to pore formation
and growth. Proc.
Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 102, 8728-8733. PDF
Sherer, N.M., Lehmann,
M.J., Jimenez-Soto, L.F., Ingmundson, A., Horner, S.M., Cicchetti, G.,
Allen, P.G., Pypaert, M., Cunningham, J.M., and Mothes, W. (2003). Visualization
of retroviral replication in living cells reveals budding into multivesicular
bodies. Traffic,
4(11), 785-801. PDF
Reagents
Mothes W, Boerger
AL, Narayan S, Cunningham JM, Young JA. Retroviral entry mediated by
receptor priming and low pH triggering of an envelope glycoprotein.
Cell. 2000 Nov 10;103(4):679-89. PDF
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