Projects per year
Organisation profile
Organisation profile
Herpesviruses live harmoniously within human hosts, yet sometimes things go wrong, and they start to contribute to the development of major diseases, including post-viral chronic illnesses like ME/CFS, long COVID, and other autoimmune diseases like Multiple sclerosis. Our lab aims to unravel the biological mechanisms that convert a friend to a foe and its consequences on the host cell. Using novel state-of-the-art latency models and modern innovative molecular biology approaches, we try to understand the early stages of host-virus interactions, using single-cell to multicellular organoids.
Our research concentrates on:
- deciphering the interplay between pathogens and host mitochondria responsible for innate immunity;
- investigating the role of infections in the development of inflammation and autoimmunity;
- identifying the genetic alterations and infection-mediated cell-specific changes in the host that lead to chronic post-viral diseases like ME/CFS and long COVID.
Our previous groundbreaking discoveries include characterization of the molecular mechanism of HHV-6 reactivation from the human telomere and identification of a latency-lytic molecular switch that regulates HHV-6 reactivation.
We:
- specialize in latency models of double-stranded DNA viruses like Herpesviruses and implement in vitro models in primary and continuous cells to understand the crosstalk between the host and the pathogen;
- use organoid models for a better understanding of intricate regulation of virus latency in vivo;
- focus on mitochondria and peroxisome biology using innovative reporter proteins and advanced microscopy.
- Use co-infection models like Chlamydia and HHV-6 to understand human pathology.
Our downstream analytic capabilities include:
- Single-cell sequencing;
- Cross-disciplinary infection models;
- advanced microscopy;
- Anti-microbial drug designing.
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Profiles
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Emīls Edgars Bašēns
- Institute of Microbiology and Virology, Prof. Bhupesh Prusty Group. Host-Pathogen Interactions - Acting Researcher
Person
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Nikolajs Degtjarjovs
- Institute of Microbiology and Virology, Prof. Bhupesh Prusty Group. Host-Pathogen Interactions - Acting Researcher
Person
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Georgy Nikolayshvili
- Institute of Microbiology and Virology, Prof. Bhupesh Prusty Group. Host-Pathogen Interactions - Visiting Researcher
Person
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Unveiling SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein's Role in Cellular Metabolism and Crosstalk with Herpesvirus Reactivation Using Novel 3D cell culture/organoid
Melderis, M. (Project leader), Prusty, B. K. (Supervisor) & Nora-Krūkle, Z. (Supervisor)
1/10/24 → 29/09/28
Project: PhD projects
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Antimicrobial and wound healing properties of K21
Prusty, B. K. (Project leader), Waghmare, T. S. (Leading expert), Bašēns, E. E. (Expert) & Nora-Krūkle, Z. (Expert)
4/04/24 → 31/03/29
Project: Contract research › R&D project
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Mitochondrial dysfunction and metabolic alterations in ME/CFS
Prusty, B. K. (Project leader)
1/08/22 → 31/07/25
Project: Projects outside RSU
Prizes
Activities
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RSU Research week 2025
Nora-Krūkle, Z. (Scientific committee member), Murovska, M. (Scientific committee member), Svirskis, Š. (Scientific committee member), Sultanova, A. (Scientific committee member), Kadiša, A. (Scientific committee member), Holodņuka, I. (Scientific committee member), Prusty, B. K. (Scientific committee member), Halpert, G. (Scientific committee member), Di Luca, D. (Scientific committee member), Bortolotti, D. (Scientific committee member) & Schneider, M. (Scientific committee member)
26 Mar 2025 → 28 Mar 2025Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Organising a conference, workshop, ...
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The European Association for Cancer Research (External organisation)
Rogoza, O. (Member)
Nov 2024 → …Activity: Membership types › Membership of NGOs
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University of Wuerzburg
Waghmare, T. S. (Visiting researcher) & Nikolayshvili, G. (Visiting researcher)
28 Oct 2024 → 31 Oct 2024Activity: Visiting an external institution types › Visiting an external academic institution