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Sloan Lab @richardsloanlab.bsky.social · 30/01/2025

Congratulations @nellymak.bsky.social! So proud. Glad your postdoc lab is treating you well.

Reposted by Sloan Lab

Edinburgh Infectious Diseases @uoe-eid.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

💭Check our brand new Research Focus - featuring publications from across the Edinburgh Infectious Diseases network! @pfvale.bsky.social @richardsloanlab.bsky.social @dbogaert.bsky.social @fionagreco.bsky.social Full article here ➡️ edinburgh-infectious-diseases.ed.ac.uk/news-and-eve...

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Sloan Lab @richardsloanlab.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

Just a reminder to apply for this PhD project in our lab @edinuni-irr.bsky.social using a mix of CRISPR screening and computational approaches to find antiviral factors. Deadline Monday 13th January. Fully funded and international applicants accepted. Please share! @uoe-eid.bsky.social

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Reposted by Sloan Lab

Nelly Mak @nellymak.bsky.social · 29/12/2024

My first first-author paper is out! If you are curious about how alternative splicing fine-tunes the antiviral specificity of IFITMs in horseshoe bats, make this the last paper you will read in 2024⬇️

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Sloan Lab @richardsloanlab.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

Second fully funded PhD in our lab! @edinuni-irr.bsky.social Interested in how endogenous retroelements shape bat immune responses? Fully funded PhD with some teaching in China. Excellent supervisors include @batresearch.bsky.social biomedical-sciences.ed.ac.uk/postgraduate... #ViroSky #Immunosky

biomedical-sciences.ed.ac.uk

Fully funded 4 Year PhD studentships in Biomedical Sciences

Applications are invited from outstanding students wishing to pursue a 4 Year PhD studentship in Biomedical Sciences from September 2025.

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Sloan Lab @richardsloanlab.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

Awesome opportunity to do a PhD in a building filled top to bottom with outstanding virologists, all in sunny Glasgow. What's not to love? Strong recommend...

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Reposted by Sloan Lab

Jaime Garcia Iglesias @jgarciaiglesias.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

Give a follow to the amazing @uoe-eid.bsky.social community which brings together virologists, scientists, and social scientists talking about viruses! #MedSky #IDSky #MedID #PublicHealth #AcademicSky #AcademicChatter

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Sloan Lab @richardsloanlab.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

PhD opportunity in our lab at Edinburgh University! Analysing CRISPR screens for proviral and antiviral factors focusing on coronaviruses and influenza A virus. Using a mix of wet lab and computational approaches (full training provided). #ViroSky #ImmunoSky usher.ed.ac.uk/precision-me...

usher.ed.ac.uk

Meta-analysis of genome wide functional screens to identify broad-spectrum antiviral and immuno-therapeutic targets

Precision Medicine Project - Meta-analysis of genome wide functional screens to identify broad-spectrum antiviral and immuno-therapeutic targets

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Sloan Lab @richardsloanlab.bsky.social · 06/12/2023

New lab preprint! Understanding innate immunity in bats is important given their role in viral spillovers and with their unusual immune systems. Here we study antiviral IFITM genes in horseshoe bats and find alternative splicing is key to functional antiviral diversity: doi.org/10.1101/2023...

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Sloan Lab @richardsloanlab.bsky.social · 27/10/2023

So there is still plenty to find out still aboutthis complicated HIV block to infection (shame the funders don't agree!). Thanks to mBio for taking this on, Kathryn for leading the writing, Aine for the persistence in pursuing this question and Joe Gibbons for the recent experimental work. /end

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Sloan Lab @richardsloanlab.bsky.social · 27/10/2023

How is reverse transcription blocked? Why is RPRD2 highly expressed in macrophages and dendritic cells? What is the upstream entry component of Lv2 restriction? Also the relationship between RPRD2 and the HUSH and PAF1 complexes is totally undefined, but the physical links are there 7/n

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Sloan Lab @richardsloanlab.bsky.social · 27/10/2023

Meanwhile, over in Birmingham and Manchester Pawel Grzechnik was working out key details in how RPRD2 is involved in regulating cellular transcription. How this relates to what is seen for HIV is still unclear (but tantalising). There are still a tonne of open questions...6/n

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Sloan Lab @richardsloanlab.bsky.social · 27/10/2023

The viral capsid and envelope determinants known for the unmapped Lv2 restriction phenotype were matched to RPRD2, suggesting it is behind a big part of the phenotype. It was then shown HIV-1 Vpr is at play (isn't it always?) degrading RPRD2 and aiding infection. 5/n

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Sloan Lab @richardsloanlab.bsky.social · 27/10/2023

Initial analysis of RPRD2 showed not only could it inhibit HIV-2, but also HIV-1 and some SIVs. The block to infection was shown to occur at viral reverse transcription, with RPRD2 binding reverse transcripts and more generally binding RNA probes. At about this point I get involved...4/n

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Sloan Lab @richardsloanlab.bsky.social · 27/10/2023

To identify the factors involved in Lv2 Aine and her lab had to brute force it, using whole genome siRNA screening of Lv2 susceptible virus. This pulled up candidates including members of the HUSH complex, the PAF1 complex and an RNApol II C-terminal binding protein - RPRD2 3/n

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Sloan Lab @richardsloanlab.bsky.social · 27/10/2023

The Lv2 restriction was initially defined as a block to HIV-2 infection in some cells. Mapping experiments revealed it to be an envelope and capsid driven phenomena, seemingly linked to the route of viral entry (including important contributions from Stuart Neil). 2/n

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Sloan Lab @richardsloanlab.bsky.social · 27/10/2023

Our review on the Lv2/RPRD2 restriction of HIV is finally published in mBio! Led by talented postdoc Kathryn Jackson-Jones who took on the task of summarising a couple of decades of molecular virology by co-author Aine McKnight doi.org/10.1128/mbio... 1/n

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Reposted by Sloan Lab

Caro Goujon @carogoujon.bsky.social · 16/10/2023

We are looking for 2 postdocs (a molecular virologist and a bioinfomatician with wet lab experience) to work on our ERC-funded InVIRium project! We're based in Montpellier, France and we aim to better characterize respiratory virus replication in pertinent models of primary airway epithelia.

This is the job description, which can also be found on Euraxess: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/120426

View of the Mediterranean see near Montpellier

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Sloan Lab @richardsloanlab.bsky.social · 11/10/2023

Excellent PhD opportunity to study how species resist viral infection using bioinformatics, virology, and animal models at Edinburgh Uni. Led by Rob Young at the Usher Institute, virology with me, and animal models with Elly Gaunt at Roslin: www.findaphd.com/phds/project... #ViroSky #ImmunoSky

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