How do viruses navigate inside a cell?

Using the high resolution 3-D long-term imaging technologies at SMS, Senthil wants to learn exactly how viruses interact with host cells to avoid being killed.

Viruses, like Dengue virus, gain entry into cells via different pathways, and can have different fates once inside. Some viruses end up in lysosomes where they get digested, while others escape danger, multiply, and find their way out again to infect neighbouring cells. The mechanisms that determine which route viruses take is not known due to limitations of traditional imaging techniques.

The ultimate goal is to target these mechanisms so that viruses can be rerouted for destruction – this would enable a way to control viruses distinct from vaccines, which have largely been unsuccessful so far.