NWO XL Consortium "Viruses like it Sweet"

You can find my details here:
www.linkedin.com/in/shannon-v...

I'll be investigating virus-glycan interactions using ion mobility-MS. When I'm not in the lab, you'll find me reading or doing cross-stitch embroidery! 🧵📚 #PhDLife #Glycoscience #MassSpectrometry

🔬 Excited to share my journey in analytical chemistry! From discovering my passion during my bachelor's through mastering 🧪proteomics in my master's & working in drug discovery💊, I'm now starting my PhD with the analytical glycoscience group.

We welcome Shannon Vogelaar to the NWO consortium “Viruses like it Sweet” 🍭🍬🍫 .

Even though it is not #glycotime, we are happy to share a new research project from our consortium members @debbyvanriel.bsky.social and @lisabauervirus.bsky.social!
Well done #RielScience Team🧪🦠🔬🎉.
Find👇 a guide through the project

Non-polio enteroviruses compromise the electrophysiology of a human iPSC-derived neural network The non-polio Enteroviruses enterovirus-D68 (EV-D68) and enterovirus-A71 (EV-A71) are highly prevalent and considered pathogens of increasing health concern. While most enterovirus infections are mild...

🧠🦠 Non-polio enteroviruses (NPEV) cause neurological complications like meningitis, encephalitis & acute flaccid paralysis—but we still don't fully understand HOW these viruses disrupt neural function!
Here we have evidence that NPEV compromise neurotransmission 👇
doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Anti-science and the science community Nature Reviews Microbiology - As anti-science sentiment intensifies — aggravated by the pandemic, driven in some parts of the world by political actors and amplified by social media —...

What can the scientific community do against the anti-science trend? Interesting point of view with ideas how we can address this important issue:
📖Science literacy education
🔬Transparency about science's capabilities and limitations
🧑‍🔬Take science communication serious
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

In this collaborative effort between @lisabauervirus.bsky.social, @debbyvanriel.bsky.social and @rpdevrieslab.bsky.social we investigated the role glycolipids in Enterovirus-D68 infection. We thank especially the Master student Ashely and Bachelorstudent Anouk for their valuable contribution!

Sialic Acid-Containing Glycolipids Extend the Receptor Repertoire of Enterovirus-D68 Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) emerged as a pathogen of increasing health concern globally, particularly due to its association with outbreaks of severe respiratory diseases and acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) in children. Knowledge regarding the tissue tropism and pathogenesis of EV-D68 within the respiratory tract and central nervous system remains limited, primarily due to an incomplete understanding of the host factors that facilitate the entry of EV-D68 into host cells. Several cellular receptors involved in EV-D68 infections have been identified, including ICAM-5, sialylated glycoproteins, and heparan sulfate (HS). Here, we investigate the receptor requirement of a panel of EV-D68 strains covering all clades, focusing on HS and sialosides utilizing glycan arrays. We found that all EV-D68 strains binding to HS harbor a cell culture adaptive substitution in the structural protein VP1 at position 271, which changes the amino acid into a positively charged one. Glycan array analyses revealed that EV-D68 strains prefer α2,6-linked sialic acids presented on N-glycans, α2,8-linked sialic acids on gangliosides, or both. Inhibition of glycolipid biosynthesis or multivalent glycolipid mimics confirmed that ganglioside structures serve as entry receptors for certain EV-D68 strains. Lastly, we examined whether EV-D68 strains that bind to HS or glycolipids require different uncoating mechanisms. Bafilomycin A1 minimally affected the cell entry of HS-binding EV-D68 strains B2/039 and B2/947, and the ganglioside preferring B1/2013 and other viruses were strongly inhibited. Together, we identified that EV-D68 strains can use disialoglycolipids as novel receptors and that different EV-D68 strains show a promiscuous sialic acid binding repertoire.

We are happy to share the first publication of our consortium:
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Check out this amazing documentary from our PI @debbyvanriel.bsky.social discussing the potential of a bird flu as the next pandemic!

and another vacancy in our department! Great project, in dynamic team

Vacature: PhD position Virology The department of Viroscience at the Erasmus MC and the department of Chemical Biology & Drug discovery at Utrecht University have joined forces to identify functional glycan receptors for influenza A...

Join us! We are looking for a highly motivated PhD Student to join our teams and investigate glycan-virus interaction at @erasmusmc.bsky.social

🍬Glycans
🦠Viruses
🫁🧠Organoids
🧬 Genetic Engineering

Apply here 👇
www.werkenbijerasmusmc.nl/en/vacancy/1...

Follow also our consortium members for further details:
@debbyvanriel.bsky.social @rpdevrieslab.bsky.social @lisabauervirus.bsky.social

We combine glycomics, glycoproteomics, chemistry, virology, organoids and advanced cell culture models to study virus glycan interaction focusing on Influenza Viruses, Enteroviruses and Noroviruses in the airways, enteric system and the central nervous system

#Viruseslikeitsweet is online! We are a consortium of the department of Viroscience @erasmusmc.bsky.social and the department of Chemical Biology & Drug discovery @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social
Follow our progress here or via our Linked-In account: NWO-XL Consortium Viruses like it Sweet