Elucidating Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) Capsid Assembly Mechanism for Identifying Therapeutic Targets to Prevent/Treat EBV Infection

Principal Investigator: Aussie Suzuki, assistant professor of oncology and affiliate McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research

Co-Principal Investigators:

Eric Johannsen, associate professor of medicine and oncology, and affiliate McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research

William Sugden, professor of oncology and affiliate McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infects ~90% of adults and causes infectious mononucleosis as well as several lymphomas and carcinomas. EBV has two stages of infection, latent and lytic phases. EBV produces infectious virions in lytic phase, whereas EBV is maintained as closed plasmids without producing virions during latent phase. Therefore, it is important to understand the regulations of lytic phase for preventing EBV infection.

The size of EBV (~100 nm) makes it difficult to study using light microscopy. The research team has developed a novel super-resolution microscopy method, 12x3D Chromatin Isotropic and Preserved Expansion Microscopy (12xChIPExM), which achieves ~15 nm resolution and successfully visualizes a single EBV in a lytic cell.

12xChIPExM suggests that EBV capsids – protein shells that protect viral genomes – are assembled in specific regions of the host nucleus, “capsid factories.” The team will investigate this hypothesis and shed light on the mechanism underlying capsid assembly, that contributes to identifying therapeutic targets to prevent/treat infection and improve patient outcomes.