GBB seminar serie Postdoc edition Kryštof Stafl

Kryštof Stafl

Membrane Enzymology

Syncytin-1: The story of one virus and two receptors

Abstract:

Not all viruses negatively affect the fitness of their hosts. During evolution, some viral genes were captured and became harmless parts of host genomes, with some even repurposed for new functions. Well-described examples of this repurposing are syncytins, retroviral envelope proteins that fuse cells in the placenta to form the syncytiotrophoblast layer. This layer then acts as a protective barrier between mother and fetus.

Because of their viral origin, syncytins still require interaction with specific cellular receptors for activation. Human Syncytin-1 was found to interact with ASCT1 and ASCT2, two neutral amino acid transporters. However, neither their individual contributions to placental cell fusion nor the binding site for Syncytin-1 was known. During my PhD, we aimed to answer these questions, hoping to help explain some cases of idiopathic infertility.