Q1020R in the spike proteins of MERS-CoV from Arabian camels confers resistance against soluble human DPP4 | Journal of Virology Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is an emerging virus that can cause severe lung disease, MERS, and is transmitted from camels to humans. Although MERS-CoV infects camels in both Africa and Arabia, MERS cases have only been documented in Arabia for reasons that remain incompletely understood. Here, we provide evidence that viruses recently circulating in Arabian camels and causing human infections are less susceptible to inhibition by human soluble DPP4 (sDPP4)—a secreted version of the viral receptor that is present in various bodily fluids. Furthermore, we link sDPP4 resistance to mutation Q1020R in the spike protein of these viruses. These results suggest that viruses currently circulating in Arabian camels are better equipped to overcome a natural barrier to infection, sDPP4, than those circulating in African camels.

Q1020R in the spike proteins of MERS-CoV from Arabian camels confers resistance against soluble human DPP4 | Journal of Virology journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Very excited to share the first announcement of our international VISION symposium on integrated structural virology! Looking forward to see many of you in Hamburg!

AlphaFold predictions are valuable hypotheses and accelerate but do not replace experimental structure determination - Nature Methods An analysis of AlphaFold protein structure predictions shows that while in many cases the predictions are highly accurate, there are also many instances where the predicted structures or parts of pred...

So structural biology is not dead after all 😋 Not a big surprise The title of this article is exactly in line with what I think.
Same applies to LLMs for scientific writing.

Congratulations to Dr. George Ssebyatika for winning the "Wissenschaftspreis der Universität zu Lübeck, MINT Sektionen" - well deserved, George!
Foto: Guido Kollmeier; Rechte: Universität zu Lübeck

The Krey lab is hiring! If you are interested in viral glycoproteins, neutralizing antibodies and vaccines - and you want to further study this using structural and biochemical approaches, please apply!
stellenangebote.uni-luebeck.de/jobposting/d...

We are excited to highlight Eike's pivotal role in the DEFENDER consortium, a collaborative effort focused on uncovering viral entry factors. His research is vital in developing targeted strategies for preventing and controlling yellow fever virus (YFV) infections 🦟.

Eike Steinmann heads the Department of Molecular & Medical Virology at @ruhr-uni-bochum.de 🧬. His team is at the forefront of groundbreaking research, exploring RNA virus replication mechanisms and transmission routes, with a focus on flavi- and coronaviruses.

Spotlight on Marie Flamand

Meet Marie, a virologist leading groundbreaking research at @institutpasteur.bsky.social Paris. Marie and her team have already made waves in understanding how dengue, Zika, and Rift Valley fever viruses impact human health.

We're excited to share a recent SWR NANO feature highlighting DEFENDER that takes us behind the scenes of the impressive work done by the @chlandalab.bsky.social Lab at @uniheidelberg.bsky.social! 🧬 The feature starts at minute 18:58 – be sure to tune in!
👉 www.3sat.de/wissen/nano/...

A neutralizing antibody prevents postfusion transition of measles virus fusion protein Measles virus (MeV) presents a public health threat that is escalating as vaccine coverage in the general population declines and as populations of immunocompromised individuals, who cannot be vaccina...

I am excited to share our study in Science on #measles fusion glycoprotein in complex with the first neutralizing antibody described for this virus! doi.org/10.1126/scie...

✨ Spotlight on @kreylab.bsky.social ! ✨

🧪 At the Universität zu Lübeck, DEFENDER PI Thomas Krey and his team are at the forefront of structural virology, investigating how viral glycoproteins interact with the immune system and how virus capsids assemble.

Our goal? To advance our understanding of host-pathogen interactions and uncover new viral entry factors, paving the way for innovative antiviral strategies against viral diseases with epidemic potential.

In the coming weeks, we’ll introduce you to the outstanding partners in our consortium – leading experts in virology, structural biology, and drug development – who are driving this crucial research forward. Stay tuned to learn more about their expertise and contributions!

The DEFENDER project has officially launched!

We are excited to kick off DEFENDER (Identification of Novel Viral Entry Factors and Development of Antiviral Approaches), an EU-funded initiative under the 2024-DISEASE-08-20 call, focused on pandemic preparedness and response.

🔗 defender-project.org

The deadline to apply for a travel grant to attend the CSSB symposium is this Friday, February 28.

To apply for the travel grant please complete the registration form and submit your scientific abstract.

symposium2025.cssb-hamburg.de/registration

@leibnizliv.bsky.social @uni-hamburg.de @embl.org

Congrats to George Ssebyatika and Katja DInkelburg!!!!!!

Broadly neutralizing antibodies isolated from HEV convalescents confer protective effects in human liver-chimeric mice - Nature Communications HEV-specific antiviral treatment is still lacking. Here, the authors functionally and structurally characterize broadly neutralizing antibodies isolated from HEV convalescent individuals and show that...

Happy to see this study published, a great collaboration between structural, molecular and clinical virology labs! We describe neutralizing antibodies targeting the Hepatitis E virus capsid protein that distinguish between infectious particles and antibody decoy.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Fakten sind das Rückgrat unserer Demokratie - Online-Petition Liebe Mitbürgerinnen und Mitbürger, als Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler arbeiten wir täglich daran, die Grundlagen für fundierte Entscheidungen und Innovationen zu schaffen – basierend auf üb...

www.openpetition.de/petition/onl...

Happy to join the Bluesky community! 🎉 Will try to share exciting research results, interesting events, announcements and reports about our research activities ...