MengJie Hu

My research intially focuses on investigating respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection, a leading cause of acute respiratory illness in infants, immunosuppressed adults and the elderly. Using high-resolution quantitative imaging, bioenergetics measurements and infectious assays, RSV's unque ability to co-opt host cell mitochondria to facilitate viral infection has been revealed. Agents that inhibit virus-induced changes on mitochondria strongly suppresses RSV virus production, including in a mouse model with reduced virus-induced lung inflammation. These findings establish the RSV-mitochondrial interface for the first time as a viable target for therapeutic intervention.

My research is now expanding to develop novel antiviral comouds targeting host factors from high-throughput screening as potential therapeutics for infectious diseases caused by lethal viruses (e.g., Dengue virus, Zika virus, west nile virus and other flaviviruses).