Recipients

The interaction between a virus and its host determines both the virus’s lifecycle and how it causes disease. One key strategy is for the virus to activate signalling pathways within cells and so hijack their normal operation. These cellular events may be a potential target for treatments to prevent influenza. Dr. Yang Li is exploring how influenza virus activates a specific cellular pathway (PI3K/Akt) and the role of this pathway in causing infection. The PI3K/Akt pathway plays a key role in controlling how cells survive, multiply, and self-destruct. Dr. Li and his colleagues have determined that the influenza virus activates this pathway in response to interaction between certain elements of the virus and the pathway. This work could inform development of new strategies for treating influenza patients and speeding their recovery from the illness.

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