Page 48 - Hormel Report 2023

Vijay Reddy, PhD
“Knowledge of the structure and assembly of viruses reveals the mechanisms and identifies viral proteins by which they enter cells and cause diseases. By acquiring this knowledge using cryo-electron microscopy, computational methods, and bioinformatics approaches, we devise ways, in terms of designing novel vaccines, to interfere with virus entry, thereby preventing
viral infections.”
Vijay Reddy
48 | THE HORMEL INSTITUTE // Structural Virology, Informatics
and Vaccine Design
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
Our group’s research interests involve 1) the elucidation of 3D-structures of viruses at near-atomic resolution and deciphering
their cellular entry and intracellular trafficking pathways, 2) data science and biomedical data analytics, and 3) transforming viruses into potential vectors for therapeutic purposes.
Current Research Projects
We employ structural, biophysical, biochemical, and bioinformatics methods to determine the 3D structures of these macromolecular assemblages, uncover their unique properties, and analyze structural similarities across groups of viruses. We primarily use cryo-electron microscopy (Cryo- EM) for structure determination, making full use of the state-of-the-art cryo-EM facility available at The Hormel Institute that includes a 300 kV Titan Krios electron microscope equipped with Gatan K3 camera, BioContinuum Imaging Filter.
Our particular focus is on the structure and life cycle of human adenoviruses, which are being used as viral vectors for gene and vaccine delivery in the clinic. Significantly, replication-defective adenovirus vectors have been used recently