Dr. Deepak Koirala
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Friday, October 11, 2024
12:00 Noon
Room 120 – Meyerhoff Chemistry Building
“RNA structure-mediated strategies of viral genome translation and replication”
My laboratory’s current research focuses on developing and using the biochemistry, molecular biology, and structural biology approaches to understand how RNA structures within viral RNA genomes promote the viral life cycle in the host cells. This overall research will fill critical gaps in knowledge regarding the structures and mechanisms of RNA-mediated genome replication and translation in (+)-sense RNA viruses, many of which are the etiological agents that cause various human diseases and global pandemics. Therefore, the outcomes will promise to aid in developing RNA-targeted therapeutics against these pathogens, improving human health globally. Current projects under this theme include 1) structural and mechanistic studies of cap-independent genome translation in (+)-strand RNA viruses, 2) structural and mechanistic studies of RNA-mediated enteroviral genome replication, and 3) structural studies of HIV-1 RRE (rev response element) and ribosomal FSE (frame-shifting element). The seminar presentation will discuss my laboratory’s notable accomplishments, such as 1) the determination of the first high-resolution crystallographic structures of enteroviral replication-linked RNAs (REPLRs), revealing how this highly conserved RNA-mediated platform recruits viral 3CD and human PCBP2 proteins for the viral genome replication, and 2) the determination the crystal structures of un uncapped viral RNA domain and showing how this structure mimics the mRNA 5ꞌ cap for binding eIF4E protein during the viral genome translation.