Home Department: Chemistry
Supported by: Bio-X
Mentor: Steven Boxer, Chemistry

To enter and infect human cells, the influenza virus must bind to molecules on host cell membranes. To identify factors that govern viral binding and determine means to interfere with viral infectivity, Isabel will examine the sterol composition and physical properties of host cell membranes.

Poster presented at the Stanford Bio-X Interdisciplinary Initiatives Symposium on August 24, 2016:

Sterol-Dependent Membrane Dynamics Regulate Influenza Virus Binding

Isabel Goronzy¹, Robert Rawle², Peter Kasson², Steven Boxer¹
[Department of Chemistry¹, Stanford University; Department of Molecular Physiology & Biological Physics², University of Virginia]

Home Department: Chemistry
Supported by: Bio-X
Mentor: Steven Boxer, Chemistry

Isabel Goronzy is investigating the mechanism of influenza infection, specifically, the entrance of the flu virus into a host cell via fusion of the viral and target cell membranes. Blocking this pathway could be developed into a novel anti-viral strategy. To explore how molecules in the viral and host cell membranes interact, she is imaging single virus particles binding to and fusing with a constructed biomembrane.

Poster presented at the Stanford Bio-X Interdisciplinary Initiatives Symposium on August 26, 2015:

Membrane Lipid Composition Regulating Influenza Binding Visualized on the Single Virion Level

Isabel Goronzy¹, Robert Rawle², Peter Kasson², Steven Boxer¹
[Department of Chemistry¹, Stanford University; Department of Molecular Physiology & Biological Physics², University of Virginia]