Molecular and cellular virology
Jean Dubuisson graduated as a Doctor in Veterinary Medicine in 1984 from the University of Liège in Belgium, and he received his PhD degree in 1989 from the same university. Between 1985 and 1991, he studied viral pathogenesis of bovine herpesviruses. He did a post-doc between 1991 and 1994 at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, working on Sindbis virus, yellow fever virus and hepatitis C virus. In 1994, he obtained a tenure position at CNRS and he started to develop his own group in France, at the Institut Pasteur de Lille. Since 1993, Jean Dubuisson has been working on hepatitis C virus. He has been a pioneer in studying hepatitis C virus entry and morphogenesis. Since 2014, his group is also developing research projects on coronaviruses and hepatitis E virus. In 2003, he received the Silver Medal Award from the CNRS and between 2005 and 2010, he was an HHMI (Howard Hughes Medical Institute) International Research Scholar.
The MCV team is dedicated to the study of positive-strand RNA viruses by focusing on major human pathogens. The main objectives are to better understand how these viruses interact with their host at the cellular and molecular level. Our laboratory has a long history of developing research projects on hepatitis C virus (HCV). However, with the current access of highly effective antiviral drugs against this virus, the programs on this virus have been progressively phased out. In 2013, we also implemented two other viral models, coronaviruses and hepatitis E virus (HEV), which are major emerging zoonotic viruses. Initially, the coronavirus program focused on the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and was later on extended to SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 at the COVID-19 pandemic. The cellular life cycle of these emerging viruses is divided into three major steps: (1) viral entry that leads to delivery of the viral genome into host cells, (2) viral replication allowing for copying of the viral genome and lastly (3) the viral morphogenesis and secretion of the newly formed virions. The main objective of our team is to better understand how hepatitis E virus and coronaviruses hijack the cellular machinery to complete their life cycle and to identify and characterize antiviral targets and new antivirals. From a more fundamental point of view, our laboratory is specifically interested to better understand the molecular mechanisms leading to virus assembly and entry.
Ferrié M, Alexandre V, Montpellier C, Bouquet P, Tubiana T, Ankavay M, Bentaleb C, Dubuisson J, Bressanelli S, Aliouat-Denis CM, Rouillé Y, Cocquerel L. The AP-1 adaptor complex drives intracellular trafficking and assembly of the infectious ORF2 capsid protein of Hepatitis E virus. Cell Mol Life Sci, 2024, in press
Desmarets L, Danneels A, Burlaud-Gaillard J, Blanchard E, Dubuisson J, Belouzard S. The KxGxYR and DxE motifs in the C-tail of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus membrane protein are crucial for infectious virus assembly. Cell Mol Life Sci, 2023, 80, 353
Bentaleb C, Hervouet K, Montpellier C, Camuzet C, Ferrié M, Burlaud-Gaillard J, Bressanelli S, Metzger K, Werkmeister E, Ankavay M, Janampa NL, Marlet J, Roux J, Deffaud C, Goffard A, Rouillé Y, Dubuisson J, Roingeard P, Aliouat-Denis CM, Cocquerel L. The Endocytic Recycling Compartment Serves as a Viral Factory for Hepatitis E Virus. Cell Mol Life Sci, 2022, 79, 615
DesmaretsL, Callens N, Hoffmann E, Danneels A, Lavie M, Couturier C, Dubuisson J, Belouzard S, Rouillé Y. A Reporter Cell Line for the Automated Quantification of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Living Cells. Front Microbiol, 2022, 13, 1031204
Hervouet K, Ferrié M, Ankavay M, Montpellier C, Camuzet C, Alexandre V, Dembélé A, Lecoeur C, Foe AT, Bouquet P, Hot D, Vausselin T, Saliou JM, Salomé-Desnoulez S, Vandeputte A, Marsollier L, Brodin P, Dreux M, Rouillé Y, Dubuisson J, Aliouat-Denis CM, Cocquerel L. The fate of Hepatitis E virus capsid protein is regulated by an Arginine-Rich Motif. PLoS Pathog, 2022, 18, e1010798
Lavie M, Dubuisson J, Belouzard S. SARS-CoV-2 spike furin cleavage site and S2’ basic residues modulate the entry process in a host-cell dependent manner. J Virol, 2022, 96, e0047422
Belouzard S, Machelart A, Sencio V, Vausselin T, Hoffmann E, Deboosere N, Rouillé Y, Desmarets L, Séron K, Danneels A, Robil C, Belloy L, Moreau C, Piveteau C, Biela A, Vandeputte D, Heumel S, Deruyter L, Dumont L, Leroux F, Engelmann I, Alidjinou EK,Hober D, Brodin P, Beghyn T, Trottein F, Déprez B, Dubuisson J.Large scale screening discovers clofoctol as an inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 replication that reduces COVID-19-like pathology. PLoS Pathog, 2022, 18, e1010498
Metzger K, Bentaleb C, Hervouet K, Alexandre V, Montpellier C, Saliou JM, Ferrié M, Camuzet C, Rouillé Y, Lecoeur C, Dubuisson J, Cocquerel L, Aliouat-Denis CM. Processing and subcellular localization of the hepatitis E virus replicase: identification of candidate viral factories. Front Microbiol, 2022, 13, 828636
Meunier T, Desmarets L, Bordage S, Bamba M, Hervouet K, Rouillé Y, François N, Decossas M, Tra Bi FH, Lambert O, Dubuisson J, Belouzard B, Sahpaz S, Séron K. A photoactivable natural product with broad antiviral activity against enveloped viruses including highly pathogenic coronaviruses. Antimicrob Agents Chemother, 2022, 66, e01581-21
Eymieux S, Rouillé Y, Terrier O, Séron K, Blanchard E, Rosa-Calatrava M, Dubuisson J, Belouzard S, Roingeard P.Ultrastructural modifications induced by the SARS-CoV-2 in Vero cells: a kinetic analysis of viral factories formation, viral particle morphogenesis and virion release. Cell Mol Life Sci, 2021, 78, 3565-3576
Perrier A, Bonnin A, Desmarets L, Danneels A, Goffard A, Rouillé Y, Dubuisson J, Belouzard S. Identification of a novel TGN localization signal in the C-terminal domain of the MERS coronavirus M protein. J Biol Chem, 2019, 294, 14406-14421
Lavie M, Linna L, Moustafa RI, Belouzard S, Fukasawa M, Dubuisson J. Role of the cytosolic domain of occludin in trafficking and HCV infection. Traffic, 2019, 20, 753-773
Ankavay M, Montpellier C, Sayed IM, Saliou JM, Wychowski C, Saas L, Duvet S, Aliouat-Denis CM, Farhat R, de Masson d'Autume V, Meuleman P, Dubuisson J, Cocquerel L. New insights into the ORF2 capsid protein, a key player of the hepatitis E virus lifecycle. Sci Rep, 2019, 9, 6243
Sahuc ME, Sahli R, Rivière C, Pène V, Lavie M, Vandeputte A, Brodin P, Rosenberg AR, Dubuisson J, Ksouri R, Rouillé Y, Sahpaz S, Séron K. Dehydrojuncusol, a natural phenanthrene compound extracted from Juncus maritimus is a new inhibitor of hepatitis C virus replication. J Virol, 2019, 93, e02009-18
Lebsir N, Goueslain L, Farhat R, Callens N, Dubuisson J, Jackson CL, Rouillé Y. Functional and physical interaction between the Arf activator GBF1 and hepatitis C virus NS3 protein. J Virol, 2019, 93, e01459-18
Farhat R, Ankavay M, Lebsir N, Gouttenoire J, Jackson CL, Wychowski C, Weber A, Moradpour D, Dubuisson J, Rouillé Y, Cocquerel L. (2018) Identification of GBF1 as a cellular factor required for Hepatitis E virus RNA replication. Cell Microbiol, 20, e12804
Montpellier C, Wychwoski C, Sayed IM, Meunier JC, Saliou JM, Ankavay M, Bull A, Pillez A, Abravanel F, Helle F, Brochot E, Drobecq H, Farhat R, Aliouat-Denis CM, Haddad J, Izopet J, Meuleman P, Goffard A, Dubuisson J, Cocquerel L. (2018) Hepatitis E Virus Lifecycle and Identification of 3 Forms of the ORF2 Capsid Protein. Gastroenterology, 154, 211-223
