Project

Lieke van der Aa - Genomic diversity and antiviral function(s) of a TRIM multigenic family in fish

TRIM proteins constitute a large multigenic family and share a signature at the N terminus, a tripartite motif (TRIM) including a ring zinc finger, a B-Box domain and a coiled-coil (RBCC). The TRIM proteins are involved in many intracellular pathways and have been implicated in different functions such as cell differentiation, apoptosis, and in growth control, but also in cellular defense mechanisms against (TRIM5, TRIM19).

Recently a virus-induced TRIM multigenic subfamily (finTRIM) has been identified in teleosts. We hypothesize that this finTRIM subfamily will be important for effective irradication of viral and other infections. This project investigates the genomic diversity, the expression pattern and regulation, the subcellular distribution and the functional properties of finTRIMs. This project is performed in the context of the development of an integrated repertoire of virus-induced modifications of fish transcriptome.

This project is a cooperation between the Wageningen University and The National Institute of Agronomical Research (INRA), Jouy en Josas, France.

Thesis defense Lieke van der Aa January 20 2012:

"TRIM proteins and CXC chemokines, evolutionary dynamics and functional characterization of two large protein families in teleost fish"

(Promotor: Huub Savelkoul; co-promotors: Lidy van Kemenade and Pierre Boudinot)