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RNA packaging and viral assembly

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Methodological developments

Our research combines structural and functional studies of RNA from retroviruses and influenza A viruses. In vitro experiments allow to very precisely determine the molecular mechanisms involved in viral replication, but it is very important to validate the pertinence of the in vitro reconstituted systems, and hence to be able to study the structure and the function of these RNAs in infected cells and viral particles.

Our group develops innovative methodological approaches in order to study the structure and the functions of RNA in vitro and in viro, such as chemical probing and mutation interference mapping experiments (MIME) (Fig.1).

Figure 1: Identification by MIME of the nucleotides of the HIV-1 genomic RNA involved in Pr55Gag binding. Each position is colored according to the effect of the mutations on the Kd of the RNA/protein complex. Adapted from Smyth and al. (2015) Nature Methods 12, 866-872.
Figure 1: Identification by MIME of the nucleotides of the HIV-1 genomic RNA involved in Pr55Gag binding. Each position is colored according to the effect of the mutations on the Kd of the RNA/protein complex. Adapted from Smyth and al. (2015) Nature Methods 12, 866-872.