The iWays team has been awarded the FRM label

An array of human and animal diseases known as ‘amyloidoses’ are associated with the aggregation of host-encoded proteins into amyloid fibrils. Prion diseases were until now the only cases of amyloidoses thought to be acquired via infection. However, our recent work shows that the protein NSs of Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV), an emerging neurotropic mosquito-borne pathogen, forms large amyloid fibrils in infected cells. NSs is a small cytotoxic protein, the major virulence factor of RVFV. In human host cells, NSs fibrils virtually grow until cells die. NSs fibrils are detected in the brains of infected mice, and the viral protein is responsible for neuropathy and affects mortality. Whether the NSs monomers or fibrils are cytotoxic remains to be established. In contrast, mosquito vector cells survive the infection. We propose to examine the formation of NSs fibrils and its implication for toxicity in human cells in light of the ability of mosquito cells to survive infection. The Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale (FRM) has selected our project for funding over a minimum period of 3 years. This will enable the recruitment of a post-doctoral fellow to reinforce the iWays team on this project, which has the potential to provide molecular targets for the development of new therapeutic strategies aiming to clear amyloid deposits, as most of the associated diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, are increasingly prevalent worldwide, invariably fatal, and yet incurable.