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Institution
The HKU-Pasteur Research Centre is a non-profit
organisation created by the Hong Kong University (HKU) and Institut
Pasteur (IP) in Paris. Created in 2000, the centre is dedicated
to the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases through biological
research. The centre employs 20 individuals performing virus research
and bioinformatics studies, e.g. development of microbial databases.
Since July 2003 HKU-PRC has devoted its experimental research to
virology, with a major focus on SARS. The objective of the centre’s
projects is to understand the biology and pathogenesis of the SARS
CoV infection as well as the development of better diagnostic tools,
novel therapeutic approaches and a subunit vaccine.
HKU-PRC is situated at the Faculty of Medicine of HKU and profits
from active collaborations with a local SARS research network. Beyond
HKU, the centre collaborates with groups at the Pasteur Institute
in Paris, at ENS Lyon and in China.
Participants
Since July 2003 the HKU-PRC is directed by Prof
Ralf Altmeyer. He received his training in Germany (Univ. Tubingen),
USA (SUNY New York) and France (Ph.D at Institut Pasteur Paris in
1994) and joined the Institut Pasteur as staff scientist in 1997.
He performed research in molecular and cellular virology in various
microbial systems, e.g. Salmonella, polio-, mengo- and rhinovirus,
HIV, HCV and Dengue Virus. The common theme in the past projects
has been the investigation of early events in the pathogen’s
life cycle, encompassing
biochemical and functional studies of viral and bacterial surface
proteins, their interaction with tissue-specific and (primary) cell
entry receptors as well as the search for viral entry inhibitors,
neutralising antibodies and vaccines.
Roles in the project
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Expertise on molecular and cellular virology
(WP 8)
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Based in Hong Kong, he will facilitate relationships
among collaborators in mainland China, Hong Kong and Europe
in the field of virology.
Publications
5 recent publications:
1. Navarro-Sanchez E, Altmeyer R, Amara A, Schwartz O, Fieschi F,
VirelizierJL, Arenzana-Seisdedos F, Despres P. Dendritic-cell-specific
ICAM3-grabbing non-integrin is essential for the productive infection
of human dendritic cells by mosquito-cell-derived dengue viruses.
EMBO Rep. 2003 Jul;4(7):723-8.
2. Lozach PY, Lortat-Jacob H, de Lacroix de Lavalette
A, Staropoli I, Foung S,
Amara A, Houles C, Fieschi F, Schwartz O, Virelizier JL, Arenzana-Seisdedos
F,
Altmeyer R. DC-SIGN and L-SIGN are high affinity binding receptors
for hepatitis C virus glycoprotein E2. J
Biol Chem. 2003 May 30;278(22):20358-66.
3. Chanel C, Staropoli I, Baleux F, Amara A, Valenzuela-Fernandez
A, Virelizier
JL, Arenzana-Seisdedos F, Altmeyer R. Low levels of co-receptor
CCR5 are sufficient to permit HIV envelopemediated fusion with resting
CD4 T cells. AIDS. 2002 Nov 22;16(17):2337-40.
4. Boutet A, Altmeyer R, Hery C, Tardieu M. Direct
role of plasma membrane-expressed gp120/41 in toxicity to human
astrocytes induced by HIV-1-infected macrophages. AIDS. 2000 Dec
1;14(17):2687-97.
5. Altmeyer R, Mordelet E, Girard M, Vidal C. Expression
and detection of macrophage-tropic HIV-1 gp120 in the brain using
conformation-dependent antibodies. Virology. 1999 Jul 5;259(2):314-23.
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