Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS
Content archived on 2024-06-18

Delineating the Novel Mechanism of VPg Dependent Virus Translation Initiation

Objective

Norovirus, a member of the Caliciviridae family of small RNA viruses, is the major cause of viral gastroenteritis worldwide, often referred to as ‘winter vomiting disease’. Over a million people were infected with the virus last winter in the UK alone. Frequent outbreaks in hospitals and schools put increased pressure on healthcare services. Once thought of as a self limiting infection, norovirus has more recently been linked with higher mortality rates in older people as well as chronic infection and increased morbidity in immunocompromised patients such as those receiving chemotherapy. Despite being increasingly studied no treatments for control of norovirus infection are available. Noroviruses use a novel yet poorly understood mechanism for viral protein synthesis. This mechanism relies on the interaction of cellular factors with a virus-encoded protein called VPg, which is covalently linked to the viral RNA. Astroviruses, which also cause gastroenteritis, are thought to use a similar mechanism. Because this mode of translation is distinct from normal cellular protein synthesis it will provide targets for the development of new anti-viral therapies. This proposal plans to use a mammalian in vitro translation reconstitution system to delineate the mechanism of VPg-dependent translation initiation used by noroviruses and astroviruses. Highly purified mammalian translation factors and ribosomal subunits will be combined with viral RNA to recapitulate VPg-dependent translation initiation, identifying which factors are essential for this process. Once identified, specific interactions between VPg and cellular factors will be characterised in detail. The potential of developing anti-viral strategies, targeting these interactions, will then be examined. This proposal will reveal novel insights into a key stage in norovirus replication and provide the first detailed analysis of the VPg-dependent mechanism of astrovirus translation.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IIF
See other projects for this call

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

MC-IIF - International Incoming Fellowships (IIF)

Coordinator

THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
EU contribution
€ 231 283,20
Address
TRINITY LANE THE OLD SCHOOLS
CB2 1TN CAMBRIDGE
United Kingdom

See on map

Region
East of England East Anglia Cambridgeshire CC
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

No data
My booklet 0 0