Interaction of Schmallenberg virus with human and sheep cells (360G-Wellcome-212159_Z_18_Z)

The research laboratory of Dr. Gerald Barry is interested in understanding how viruses interact with their host on a protein level. An ongoing project in his group is examining the interaction of Schmallenberg virus (SBV), a virus of the Peribunyaviridae, with mammalian cells from different species. SBV causes congenital abnormalities in calves and lambs. The virus causes little problems in adult animals but can infect the foetus, causing malformations and abortions. Schmallenberg emerged in Europe in 2011 and is now endemic across most parts of western and central Europe, triggering small outbreaks on an annual basis. The Barry group has performed immunoprecipitation studies focusing on the NSs and the N protein of the virus and analysed interactions between them and cellular proteins. This work has led to the generation of 24 proteins of interest, that they now wish to interrogate using siRNA knockdown studies. I will focus on 5 proteins from this list, using siRNAs to knockdown their expression in mammalian cells to see if their loss impacts positively or negatively on the virus. Follow-on experiments and bioinformatic analysis will broaden our understanding of SBV interaction with cells, and help us to identify if the interactions are species specific.