VIROCARB

ViroCarb focuses on three families of non-enveloped viruses: Caliciviruses, Polyomaviruses and Papillomaviruses. All three viruses include human pathogens, and in all three cases glycans (sialic acids, histo blood group antigens and glycosamino-glycans) play critical roles in cell attachment and determining host range and tropism. Our goal is to define the parameters that, at the atomic level, guide glycan-binding for members of each of these virus families, and use this knowledge to develop novel compounds with inhibitory and thus antiviral activities. A detailed understanding of glycan receptor interactions will also be used to uncover strategies that allow viruses to switch receptor specificities and alter their host tropism - with important implications for etiology and epidemiology. ViroCarb will provide direct insight into biophysical mechanisms that determine viral target-cell selection, correlate receptor binding with pathogenicity, and provide a platform from which novel..