Wesley I. Sundquist, Ph.D.

Professor of Biochemistry
15 North Medical Drive East RM 4100
CAMPUS
(801) 585-5402

Dr. Sundquist's Lab
Read more about Dr. Sundquist and his research

Our laboratory studies the molecular and structural biology of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. We are currently focused on trying to understand three different aspects of the viral life cycle; 1) the mechanisms underlying virus assembly and release from cells, 2) the three dimensional structure of the virus, and 3) innate immune systems that allow cells to fight back against the virus. The structure of the viral capsid and the mechanisms of virus release are of fundamental interest, and also provide attractive targets for the development of new HIV drugs. Although existing AIDS treatments are largely successful in the developed world, the identification of new HIV inhibitors is critically important owing to emerging problems with drug resistance. Research our lab (as well as many others) is helping to set the stage for the development of new virus assembly inhibitors. In the longer term, we believe that understanding how cells can defend themselves against viral attack can lead to new therapeutic strategies that enhance these intrinsic cellular defense mechanisms.

This past year, our most important research accomplishments have included; 1) determining the structure and functional requirements for the cellular protein, ALIX, in HIV release (together with Chris Hill and colleagues)1, 2) identifying a new cellular protein, MVB12, that helps facilitate virus release2, 3) demonstrating that the cellular machinery required for HIV release is also required to complete the final stage of cell division, a processed called “cytokinesis”3 (and see reference 4), and 4) showing how the cellular enzyme ATPase, VPS4, recognizes other proteins and helps to recycle them so that they can participate in multiple rounds of HIV-1 budding5. We also recently received an NIH award designating us as one of three national “Center of Studies of the Structural Biology of HIV/Host Interactions”. Center funds will support collaborative studies between our lab and five other laboratories here at the University of Utah, as well as from Scripps Research Institute (La Jolla, CA), Caltech (Los Angeles, CA), and Northwestern University (Chicago, IL).

References:
1) Fisher et al., Cell (2007) 128, 841-852.
2) Morita et al., Cell Host & Microbe (2007) 2, 41-53.
3) Morita et al., EMBO Journal (2007) 26, 4215-27.
4) Carlton & Martin-Serrano, Science (2007) 316, 1908-1912.
5) Stuchell-Brereton et al. Nature (2007) 449, 740-744.