Research/Areas of Interest
Herpesviruses infect roughly 90% of the global population and persist lifelong by rapidly evading host immune responses. A key mechanism driving this resilience is the assembly of nuclear replication compartments (RCs) — specialized structures that concentrate the viral machinery needed to replicate the viral genome. Despite their importance, the molecular principles governing RC assembly remain poorly understood.
Our lab uses Herpes Simplex Virus 1 (HSV-1) as a model to investigate how viral proteins nucleate RC formation. We focus on the essential viral proteins ICP4 and ICP8, combining live-cell advanced microscopy, cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), and biochemical reconstitution to track and map their assembly in real time and at near-atomic resolution. Our long-term goal is to define the structural and functional principles of RC assembly well enough to identify new therapeutic targets — with the hope that disrupting this process could yield a new class of antivirals.
To find out more about our lab, visit us at mendezlab.science
Education
- PhD, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, United States, 2015
- BSc, University of California - Irvine, Irvine, California, USA, 2009