School of Biomedical Sciences cordially invites you to join the following Post-doctoral Fellow (PDF) Seminar:

Date: 7 January 2025 (Tuesday)
Time: 4:00 pm – 4:30 pm
Venue: Seminar Room 1, G/F, Laboratory Block, 21 Sassoon Road
Host: Dr. Haifeng Fu

Light refreshments will be served. Please register via the below link by 6 January 2025 (Monday):
Registration: https://hku.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bk0m3YO3o3WZupo

Architecture of Nidovirales double membrane vesicle pore complex
Dr. Wenxin Zhang (Post-doctoral Fellow)
[Supervisor: Professor Tao Ni]

Positive-stranded RNA viruses significantly remodel the intracellular membranes of host cells to form replication organelles. For coronavirus, double-membrane vesicles (DMVs) are central to this process, acting as the main compartment and primary site for viral RNA synthesis. Within the Nidovirales order, the formation of DMVs in coronaviruses is typically triggered by three non-structural proteins (NSPs), all of which are transmembrane proteins.

Although the DMV formation and pore complex are expected to be highly conserved within Nidovirales, the sequence variations of these DMV-related NSP proteins are huge. The diversity in NSPs sequences, coupled with the similarities in DMV formation and function, highlight the importance of investigating the conservation and divergence between DMV pore complexes across different virus families. In this talk, I will present our ongoing study to uncover the structural conservation and diversity of DMV pore complex within the Nidovirales, utilizing a combination of high-resolution cryo-electron tomography and structural modelling.

All are welcome.