Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Silke Stertz

Area of Research

Description of Research Interest

Influenza viruses are of high medical concern in humans and can cause devastating economic problems for the poultry and pig livestock industries. Currently, we have vaccines and antiviral drugs available, but both come with severe limitations. In particular, vaccines cannot protect against novel strains of influenza virus and must be continually updated. Furthermore, we experience increasing problems with drug-resistance of influenza viruses, and new antivirals with lower chances of resistance developing are urgently sought. A novel strategy being explored in the field is to target new antiviral drugs against host cell proteins that the virus requires for its replication. To identify such potential drug targets a detailed understanding of virus-host interactions at a molecular level is needed. Research in my lab focuses on the entry of influenza virus into its host cell, and the virus-host interactions required during this process. This is the first key stage of infection that all influenza viruses must accomplish, and is therefore an excellent target for antiviral drugs. The work aims to identify host factors involved in the entry process and characterize their mode of action with the overall goal of revealing novel drug targets.