BUCK LAB

Host-pathogen interactions form the basis for numerous therapeutic, vaccine and diagnostic strategies in infectious disease. Development of these strategies requires an in-depth understanding of the molecules used by host and pathogen to control infection and/or evade the counter-response. Research in this area has historically concentrated on proteins, lipids, or small molecules. Research in our group focuses on the role of another type of molecule, ribonucleic acid (RNA), in host-pathogen interactions... Small pieces of RNA control the quantity of individual proteins expressed at a given time in a cell. During infection these pieces of RNA can therefore determine how well an organism can mount an immune response to a pathogen. Our research focuses on the functions of these small RNAs in the response to viruses and other pathogens. We examine how viruses interact with small RNAs and we are testing how modulating the levels of specific small RNAs can alter the ability of viruses to..