The Sundquist lab studies the cellular, molecular, and structural biology of retroviruses, particularly HIV, and the roles played by the ESCRT pathway in cell division and the abscission checkpoint. Major projects in our lab include studies of: 1) ESCRT pathway functions and regulation in cell division; 2) HIV budding; 3) HIV replication; 4) HIV capsid structure, function, and restriction, particularly by the TRIM5α system; and 5) designed enveloped protein nanoparticles. Their approaches include NMR, EM, crystallographic, and computational studies of viral complexes; identification and biochemical analyses of the interactions between viral components and their cellular partners; and genetic analyses of viral and cellular protein functions.

As an Innovation Fund investigator, Sundquist’s lab is collaborating with the lab of Nels Elde, Ph.D. to combine an expertise in virology and biochemistry with that of evolutionary and cell biology. The team will assess whether retroCHMP3, a protein that can block viral infections in certain species of monkeys and mice, can have the same effect when introduced into other animals. This work has the potential to provide agricultural and domestic animals with resistance to a broad spectrum of viral infections.