Past featured papers
November 2025
In this recent paper investigators from the Wolfson Centre for Global Virus Research collaborated with colleagues at the University of Oxford and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine to investigate the interplay between host genetics and viral genetics in influencing the antibody response to the hepatitis C virus (HCV). It was found that interferon lambda 4 polymorphisms are associated with the quality of the antibody response following chronic HCV infections and identified specific amino acids on the HCV glycoprotein complex that are associated with antibody binding and virus neutralization.
This study provided critical new insight into the approaches to improve vaccine design for hepatitis C virus
This paper was featured in 'This Week in Virology' on October 19 2025
This study provided critical new insight into the approaches to improve vaccine design for hepatitis C virus
This paper was featured in 'This Week in Virology' on October 19 2025
(A) Structural mapping of antibody-associated polymorphisms onto the E1/E2 heterodimer (PDB: 8RJJ), with ConSurf analysis used to visualise site-specific amino acid variability. One copy of the E1/E2 heterodimer is shown with a space-filling representation of side chains coloured by evolutionary conservation. Residues associated with neutralisation sensitivity (501 and 533) are highlighted in green; the residue associated with antibody binding (653) is shown in yellow. N-linked glycosylated asparagine residues at positions 234 and 476 are shown in orange. The second E1/E2 heterodimer is rendered as a surface to illustrate the quaternary interface. The left panel presents a side view of the E1/E2 dimerof-
heterodimers; the right panel shows the same structure rotated 90° along the horizontal axis.
heterodimers; the right panel shows the same structure rotated 90° along the horizontal axis.
September 2025
September 2025 - this month we feature not one but two papers. By chance, both are due to be published in successive issues of Journal of Virological Methods. This coincidence exemplifies the involvement of members of the One Virology team in national and international collaborative efforts to develop virological methods. In this case, development, optimisation and evaluation of an ELISA to detect anti-cytomegalovirus antibodies and of influenza C and D pseudotyped viruses. Both of these techniques are featured on our resources page.
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August 2025
In this study, a team from the WCGVR and The University of Liverpool investigated the mechanism of enhancement of ebolaviruses by carbohydrate-binding proteins (lectins). Ebolaviruses possess highly glycosylated proteins on their surface, and binding of lectins such as mannose binding lectin (MBL) can enhance infection. However, the mechanism by which enhancement of ebolavirus infections into cells has not previously been understood, and this study addressed the possibility that lectins either a) form a bridging receptor that defines an alternative entry pathway, or b) do not as a receptor, instead interacting with viral glycoproteins to enhance the normal ebolavirus entry pathway by causing conformational changes to the virus.
Using a pseudotype model of infection we demonstrated that conformational changes in the ebolavirus glycoprotein, GP1,2 protein result in enhanced NPC1-mediated entry, without the requirement for a specific lectin receptor on the surface of susceptible cells. By performing directed mutagenesis of the gene encoding the GP1,2 protein, specific sites in the molecule were implicated in this effect.
Together, this study provides insight into the mechanisms by which virus glycoproteins interact with lectins to mediate virus entry.
Using a pseudotype model of infection we demonstrated that conformational changes in the ebolavirus glycoprotein, GP1,2 protein result in enhanced NPC1-mediated entry, without the requirement for a specific lectin receptor on the surface of susceptible cells. By performing directed mutagenesis of the gene encoding the GP1,2 protein, specific sites in the molecule were implicated in this effect.
Together, this study provides insight into the mechanisms by which virus glycoproteins interact with lectins to mediate virus entry.
June 2025
We recently welcomed Dr George Carnell to the One Virology fold as an Assistant Professor of Virology. Although he is phasing in (20% until the end of the year), he is already enthusiastically engaging with the group. We look forward to fruitful collaborations in the coming months. He arrived just in time for the opening of the new labs in the Elms Annex of the Wolfson Centre for Global Virus Research - more to follow on that!
January 2025
PhD student Askar Alshammari worked hard to narrow down 2366 studies to 32 that described protein–protein interactions during co-infections involving influenza A viruses and streptococcus bacteria. Askar’s PhD is aiming to understand the interaction of viral and bacterial proteins during equine influenza virus infection. Postdoctoral researcher Meshach Maina provided support, acting as a second reviewer.
November 2024
Enteroviruses are group of small RNA viruses (a genus of the family Picornaviridae) that are transmitted by the intestinal route (enteric is another word for intestinal). While studying Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) in late 2018, members of One Virology noticed that Coxsackievirus A6 (CVA6), which causes hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD), was the second most common type of enterovirus and thus worthy of its own study! The study now published compares cases before (2018) and after (2021–2023) the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study showed that although the restrictions imposed during the height of the pandemic may have had an impact on the strains in circulation, CVA6 posed a significant clinical burden both before and after the pandemic.