Hussein Daher works at the Institut de Biologie Structurale.

His project: Structure and operating principles of rabies virus RNA transcription/replication machine

The RNA replication complex of the nonsegmented negative-sense RNA viruses is composed of the template RNA covered by viral nucleoproteins (N) (this ribonucleoprotein complex is named nucleocapsids, NC), the phosphoprotein (P) and the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp). This complex is highly specific to these viruses and thus a key target for developing much-needed antiviral drugs.

Using rabies virus and a combination of biochemical, biophysical, structural and mathematical approaches, our project aims at reconstituting in vitro, from recombinant components, the NC and the tripartite functional complex involved in the replication and transcription of the genome and at unraveling some underlying molecular mechanisms.