Description:

Title: Structural Studies of Human Herpesvirus Assembly and Infection

Hong Zhou, PhD

Professor, Dept of Microbiology, Immun. & Mol. Genetics

and Electron Imaging Center for Nanomachines (EICN), CNSI

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles

Faculty Host: Richard Longnecker, PhD

Topic:

Human herpesviruses are associated with some of the most common life-long infections in our body, causing diseases ranging from cold sores to cancers. Consisting of a dsDNA-containing protein capsid, a poorly defined tegument layer and a glycol-protein decorated envelope, herpesviruses are also among the most complex of viruses. I will present latest results from cryo electron microscopy (cryoEM) and tomography (cryoET) in characterizing important structures essential to herpesvirus infections, including capsid, DNA genome packaging and fusion proteins. Important, I will show visualization of RNA in human cytomegalovirus, a betaherpesvirus containing a dsDNA genome.