Research questions
The Laboratory of Interactomics employs high-resolution quantitative mass spectrometry to investigate protein-protein, DNA-protein, and RNA-protein interactions. A central focus of our work is the examination of the interactions between viral factors and the infected cell.
A current research priority is the African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV), a DNA virus with a genome comprising approximately 160–190 annotated genes. During the infection process, numerous viral proteins interact with proteins of the porcine host cell, thereby giving rise to complex functional networks. The objective of our research is the systematic construction of a comprehensive protein interaction network for ASFV. The generated data provide mechanistic insights into virus-host interactions and open up new avenues for the development of targeted antiviral strategies and protective measures.
The mass spectrometry-based approaches employed are highly versatile and can be applied to a wide range of other viruses, thereby making a significant contribution to our understanding of viral infection mechanisms and potential therapeutic targets.