About this event

Speaker:

Heather Masson-Forsythe

Event Description:

Investigating how COVID-19 proteins stick to viral RNA and taking research from the lab to the dance floor

The SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid phosphoprotein (CoV-N) is essential for virus assembly, replication, and transcription. CoV-N is flexible but contains two structured RNA binding domains, but the functional implications of having two structurally independent binding domains remain unclear, as do the features that determine RNA-binding specificity and CoV-N/RNA organization within the ribonucleocapsid. Using a variety of biophysical and biochemical techniques, Heather, along with other members of the Barbar lab research team, characterized the nucleocapsid phosphoprotein and protein-RNA interactions.