Molecular architecture of rabies infection

Rabies virus (RABV) is a negative-stranded RNA virus from the family Rhabdoviridae that upon zoonosis into human hosts causes an acute and typically fatal infection of the central nervous system. Human rabies infections remain a significant public health problem resulting in over 50,000 deaths each year. Furthermore, our understanding of the specific interactions between the virus and the host nervous system remains very limited, resulting in a reduced capacity to prevent and treat viral infections. This project investigates the atomic-level structure of the functional surface of RABV in complex with neutralizing antibodies and host-cell receptors in order to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying RABV zoonosis into human hosts.