Staff profile
Jemima Willoughby
Research Postgraduate (PhD)
| Affiliation |
|---|
| Research Postgraduate (PhD) in the Department of Biosciences |
Biography
TRIM56: A Crucial Antiviral Effector
Having graduated from Durham in 2024 with a degree in Biosciences (BSc), I began my Biochemistry PhD under the supervision of Dr Liz Morris. I am fascinated by the molecular basis of host-pathogen interactions. My PhD focuses on a key antiviral protein: TRIM56.
TRIM56 is an intracellular protein with a crucial role in the human innate immune system. It has an unusual RNA-binding domain (RBD) which can capture viral genomes. TRIM56 can then halt viral replication and proliferation through an unknown mechanism.
My project aims to use structural biology to characterise the RBD. With a variety of biophysical techniques, we hope to unravel TRIM56's RNA specificity for viral sequences. In tandem, the use of bioinformatics will enable us to seek associations between the TRIM56 sensitivity of a virus and its genomic features.
