Brennan Lab CVR

Not for want of trying tho! Haha

Happy to chat, drop me an email:
Ben.brennan@glasgow.ac.uk :)

ZNFX1 uses two-component ubiquitin circuitry to quarantine viral RNA The detection of viral RNA inside cells triggers a diverse range of antiviral responses, including global translation inhibition, interferon secretion and RNA sequestration. Mutations in the gene ZNFX...

Pre-print: our description of RZ affiliate ZNFX1 is now online.

On binding viral RNA, ZNFX1 generates parallel Ub currents, coordinating Ub-dependent RNA silencing and aggregate resolution.

Huge effort from first authors Dan Squair and @eilidhrivers.bsky.social

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Curious about tick virology? Read my latest piece in @uk.theconversation.com where I explain findings of my latest research article www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Hope it will helps people to understand the importance of studying tick and their pathogens #ScienceforAll #WomenInScience #Arbovirose

SFTSV NSs protein is a novel tick antiviral RNAi response suppressor Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) is an emerging tick-borne phenuivirus causing high mortality in humans. While the non-structural protein NSs is dispensable for replication in...

📢 Thrilled to share our NEW PREPRINT!
SFTSV NSs is a novel tick antiviral RNAi suppressor! 🦠
🧫 NSs essential for tick but not mammalian infection
🧬 Binds 22-nt viral siRNAs to block RNAi
🕷️ Reveals host-specific viral immune evasion
📖 doi.org/p2vf
#lovevirology #bunyavirus #tickborne

Post 5/5 🧵
IMPACT: This transforms tick-borne disease research:
🎯 New drug targets
🎯 Understanding vector competence
🎯 Virus-tick evolution
Testing if mechanisms work across other tick viruses next.

👨‍🔬 collaborative project with @alf-castello.bsky.social and @alainkohlvirology.bsky.social

Post 4/5 🧵
SURPRISE: TOP3B knockdown had a weird effect:

Viral RNA levels: unchanged
Infectious particles: dramatically reduced

Suggests TOP3B helps maintain viral RNA conformation for proper packaging. Tick & human versions remarkably similar!
#lovevirology

Post 3/5 🧵
DISCOVERY: Virus systematically hijacks tick RNA machinery:
🔹 RNAi pathway: UP (tick defense)
🔹 Translation: UP (viral protein synthesis)
🔹 rRNA processing: DOWN (disrupts cell proteins)
18 proteins both changed activity AND bound viral nucleocapsid!
#bunyavirus

Post 2/5 🧵
METHOD: Using RNA interactome capture (RIC), we UV-crosslinks RNA-bound proteins to map the "RBPome" in infected vs healthy tick cells.
Challenge: Bunyavirus RNA lacks poly(A) tails, yet found enough "poly(A)-like" sequences to capture viral RNAs too!
#RNABiology #collaboration #Scitech

Uukuniemi virus infection causes a pervasive remodelling of the RNA-binding proteome in tick cells Author summary In host cells, RNA-binding proteins play essential roles in the life cycle of many viruses by influencing how viral RNA is processed, translated, replicated and assembled into virions. ...

Thread: How Viruses Hijack Tick RNA Machinery 🧬🕷️

Post 1/5 🧵
We just published the first map of how viruses rewire tick cell RNA machinery! Led by Alexandra Wilson & Wael Kamel!

We Found 283 proteins that change RNA-binding during Uukuniemi virus infection.

📄 Our paper: doi.org/10.1371/jour...

Lovely time celebrating Andrew’s PhD Graduation last week 🎓🎉🍾 #nextsteps #lovevirology #bunyavirus

Scientists uncover how ticks fight off and carry a virus deadly to humans The study, published in Nature Communications, provides the most detailed picture yet of how cells from the tick species Rhipicephalus microplus respond to infection with severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV).SFTSV can cause high fever, internal bleeding and death in humans and currently has no licensed treatment or vaccine.

Scientists uncover how ticks fight off and carry a virus deadly to humans

@virotick.bsky.social @brennanlab.bsky.social @cvrinfo.bsky.social
@uniofsurrey.bsky.social #SFTSV

Finally A BIG THANK YOU to all my co-authors, they made this long journey started in 2021 a bit smoother! Thanks to Scaturro lab, Kohl lab, @brennanlab.bsky.social, @quangu.bsky.social, and Dundee proteomics! And of course thanks to the Tick cell Biobank and Lesley for those tiny cells!

Multi-omics analysis of SFTS virus infection in Rhipicephalus microplus cells reveals antiviral tick factors - Nature Communications Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Virus (SFTSV) is a deadly tick-borne virus and a growing global health threat. In this study, Petit et al. used a multi-omics approach on SFTSV-infected tic...

OMG! I can finally share my joy to see my SFTSV work published in @natcomms.nature.com! This adventure started by the award of my MSCA grant and my move to the Kohl and @brennanlab.bsky.social at @cvrinfo.bsky.social. Let's chat about how we discovered novel tick anti-viral effectors!