Project: The role of HTLV-1 proviruses in capturing human genes in viral transmission and disease
Purcell Group
HTLV-1 is a human retrovirus that underlies Adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) and a range of chronic inflammatory conditions, including bronchiectasis. The mechanisms that underlie pathology are poorly understood. We have used single-molecule, long-read sequencing to characterise hundreds of HTLV-1c proviral genomes in natural infection, and a humanised mouse model of disease. While most HTLV-1c genomes harboured large internal deletions rendering them replication incompetent, we found a subset of genomes that appear to have captured host coding and non-coding genomic sequences. This project will characterise a selection of these chimeric host-retroviral genomes, to determine whether they produce potentially pathogenic RNA or protein products, and whether they alter the fitness of the infected cell. This project will employ state of the art molecular and cell biology techniques, as well as single-molecule, real-time, long-read sequencing data generation and analysis.
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Purcell Group
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We are interested in RNA secondary structures in RNA viruses. We are seeking to understand how the recently uncovered plasticity of the structurome interacts and correlates with the epi-transcriptome to play a crucial role in viral replication and pathogenicity. Our aim is to use this understanding to develop novel RNA therapeutics and identify potential target regions.
Purcell Group Current Projects
Research degrees at the Doherty Institute are administered by the University of Melbourne.