Welcome to the Nanoscale Infection Biology Lab

For viruses, the plasma membrane represents the first obstacle to overcome during cell entry, as well as the site of progeny virus assembly. As the major interface between a cell and its environment, the plasma membrane is a complex and dynamic organelle that needs to protect as a barrier but also process and transmit subtle signals into and out of the cell. These processes require a finely tuned spatio-temporal regulation at the nanoscale.

We investigate how viruses use and alter cellular structures for cell entry and assembly, to understand how they exploit and control plasma membrane signaling, and whether these mechanisms can be applied to inhibit virus infection. Understanding the nanophysiology of virus infection, i.e. the relation between nanoscale organization, dynamics and associated function will help to identify and characterize therapeutic targets that can be used to inhibit viruses early during infection.

We are hosted by the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Braunschweig Germany.