Medical systems virology

                                             Welcome to Medical Systems Virology!

At the global level, influenza A virus (IAV) is considered a major health threat because it causes significant morbidity and mortality. Different treatment and prevention options have been developed; however, these are insufficient in the face of recent IAV outbreaks.

                               Our goal is to improve human health during IAV outbreaks

  • to determine the principles that govern IAV-host interactions;
  • to develop inhibitors targeting IAV-host interactions;
  • to find genetic markers of individual susceptibility for severe IAV infections.

                                                                  Publications

El Omari K, Meier C, Kainov D, Sutton G, Grimes JM, Poranen MM, Bamford DH, Tuma R, Stuart DI, Mancini EJ. Tracking in atomic detail the functional specialisations in viral RecA helicases that occur during evolution. Submitted.

Bimbo LM, Denisova OV, Mäkilä E, De BrabandeJK, Hirvonen J, Salonen J, Kakkola L, Kainov DE, Santos HA. Inhibition of influenza A virus infection by saliphenylhalamide loaded silicon nanoparticles. Submitted.

Kakkola L, Denisova OV, Tynell J, Viiliäinen J, Ysenbaert T, Matos R, Nagaraj A, Ohman T, Kuivanen S, Paavilainen H, Feng L, Yadav B, Julkunen I, Vapalahti O, Hukkanen V, Stenman J, Aittokallio T, Verschuren E, Ojala PM, Nyman T, Saelens X, Kainov DE. Anticancer compound ABT-263 accelerates apoptosis in virus infected cells and imbalances cytokine production  and lowers survival rates of infected mice. Submitted

Smura T, Kakkola L, Blomqvist S, Klemola P, Parsons A, Kallio-Kokko H, Savolainen-Kopra C, Kainov D, Roivainen M. Molecular evolution and epidemiology of echovirus 6 in Finland. Infect Genet Evol. 2013. 16C:234-247.

Denisova OV, Kakkola L, Feng L, Stenman J, Nagaraj A, Lampe J, Yadav B, Aittokallio T, Kaukinen P, Ahola T, Kuivanen S, Vapalahti O, Kantele A, Tynell J, Julkunen I, Kallio-Kokko H, Paavilainen H, Hukkanen V, Elliott RM, De Brabander JK, Saelens X, and Kainov DE. Obatoclax, saliphenylhalamide and gemcitabine inhibitit influenza A virus infection. J Biol Chem. 2012; 287: 35324-32.

Feng L, Lintula S, Ho TH, Anastasina M, Paju A, Haglund C, Stenman UH,  Hotakainen K, Orpana A, Kainov D, Stenman J. Technique for strand-specific gene-expression analysis and monitoring of primer-independent cDNA synthesis in reverse transcription. BioTechniques. 2012, 52: 263-270.

Mueller KH, Kakkola L, Nagaraj AS, Cheltsov AV, Anastasina M, Kainov DE.  Emerging cellular targets for influenza antiviral agents. Trends Pharmacol Sci. 2012, 33: 89-99

                                                                        Funding

Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation, Academy of Finland, HBGS

                                                                  Group Members

Anastasina Maria, MSc, grad student, HBGS fellow

Denisova Oxana, MSc, grad student

Kainov Denis, PI, FIMM-EMBL group leader, docent

Kakkola Laura, PhD, Academy of Finland postdoctoral fellow

Alumni

Maarten Vanlede, MSc, Erasmus student (09.11-12.11). Thesis: "Next-generation sequencing of influenza A virus genomes"

Minttu Kaloinen, BSc, bioanalyst -> TransMed student

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