Center for the Structural Biology of Cellular Host Elements in Egress, Trafficking, and Assembly of HIV (CHEETAH Center)

Scope of work: Within the CHEETAH Center the Hope laboratory has a role in Projects 2 (HIV Transmission), 3 (HIV Core Trafficking and Restriction), 4 (Tool Development and Applications), 5 (Future Directions) and Cores 2 (Spectroscopy and Imaging) and 5 (Biology). The work in this area can be divided into two 3 basic areas. The first is in imaging and microscopy across multiple scales from whole animal and tissue imaging (Projects 2, 5 and Core 2, 5) to the cellular level (Projects 3, 4 and Cores 2, 5). The Hope laboratory has an exceptional imaging center located within appropriate biosafety containment to allow studies with infectious HIV and SIV. Here we will develop new imaging tools and use imaging to increase our understanding of transmission, pathogenesis, latency, cytoplasmic biology, trafficking, and restriction. We will provide currently developed and future tools to along with the necessary expertise to advance the work of other projects and cores of the CHEETAH Center. The second is to provide access to human and non-human primate tissues and primary cells to study basic HIV biology, transmission, and latency. We have great expertise with the isolation of primary mucosal cells and explant cultures. Finally, we will leverage current funded projects to have added value through interaction with the CHEETAH Center. For example, we will provide early foci of SIV infection to the Bjorkman laboratory for EM tomography imaging and IgG Fc binding domains identified in and isolated from mucins (MUC16 and MUC5AC, etc.) to study the structural biology of how isotype and glycoform specificity are mediated.