New targets for antiviral therapies

Interspecies invasion of livestock populations by viruses (e.g. Hendra/Nipah) are major threats to agriculture in Australia/internationally. A key factor in cross-species invasion is the ability to combat the host's innate immune response, which is thought to involve viral targeting of cell signaling at multiple subcellular sites by diverse mechanisms; the molecular interactions underpinning this, however, are poorly understood. Using combined proteomic and in vivo/in vitro functional analyses, we aim to define systematically the virus:cell immune interfaces formed in infected cells for the first time; this should identify key mechanisms in viral immune evasion and potential targets for therapy of numerous incurable animal diseases.