David Veesler

Dec 6, 2024 | cell.com | Kaitlin R Sprouse |Marcos Miranda |Nicholas J. Catanzaro |Amin Addetia |Cameron Stewart |Jack Brown | +19 more

KeywordsMERS-CoVEMPEMnanoparticlevaccineRBDNTDspikeResearch topic(s)CP: ImmunologyIntroductionThe recent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has demonstrated the human and economic toll that can accompany the spillover and spread of a zoonotic disease in humans. Although the success of vaccine development efforts in response to the pandemic were a triumph of modern vaccinology, SARS-CoV-2 remains the only coronavirus for which licensed vaccines are available.

Oct 30, 2024 | nature.com | Matthew McCallum |Qing Xiong |Davide Corti |David Veesler |Zheng-Li Shi

AbstractAlthough coronaviruses use diverse receptors, the characterization of coronaviruses with unknown receptors has been impeded by a lack of infection models1,2. Here we introduce a strategy to engineer functional customized viral receptors (CVRs). The modular design relies on building artificial receptor scaffolds comprising various modules and generating specific virus-binding domains.

Oct 24, 2024 | biorxiv.org | Matthew McCallum |David Veesler

AbstractIn the absence of effective vaccines, human-infecting members of the Herpesvirus family cause considerable morbidity and mortality worldwide. Herpesvirus infection relies on receptor engagement by a gH/gL glycoprotein complex which induces large-scale conformational changes of the gB glycoprotein to mediate fusion of the viral and host membranes and infection.

Jul 3, 2024 | nature.com | Bernadeta Dadonaite |Cameron Stewart |Jenni Logue |Ben Murrell |Helen Y. Chu |David Veesler

AbstractSARS-CoV-2 variants acquire mutations in the spike protein that promote immune evasion1 and affect other properties that contribute to viral fitness, such as ACE2 receptor binding and cell entry2,3. Knowledge of how mutations affect these spike phenotypes can provide insight into the current and potential future evolution of the virus.

Apr 17, 2024 | nature.com | Young-Jun Park |Kevin Cutler |Kyle L. Asfahl |Larry Gallagher |Frank DiMaio |Dapeng Zhang | +2 more

AbstractStreptomyces are a genus of ubiquitous soil bacteria from which the majority of clinically utilized antibiotics derive1. The production of these antibacterial molecules reflects the relentless competition Streptomyces engage in with other bacteria, including other Streptomyces species1,2. Here we show that in addition to small-molecule antibiotics, Streptomyces produce and secrete antibacterial protein complexes that feature a large, degenerate repeat-containing polymorphic toxin protein.