Exploring the roles of endosomal potassium ion channels in viral infection and cellular physiology

The endocytic pathway plays a central role in cellular physiology, being responsible for the uptake of extracellular material and molecules into the cell. It is also the route used by many viruses to access the cell interior. Recent work has established that potassium ions in the endosomal pathway are required for the infection of cells by a number of different viruses. However, the ion channels responsible for transporting potassium ions into endosomes and their roles in normal cellular function are largely unknown. In this project you will use organelle proteomics to identify the endosomal potassium ion channels and then examine their role in viral infection and in the trafficking of cellular proteins in the endocytic pathway. This will involve an array of techniques including cell and virus culture, subcellular fractionation, proteomics, immunofluorescence microscopy, live cell microscopy and viral infection assays. The outcome of this project will not only be the identification of novel cellular co-factors for viral infection, but a new understanding of the cellular functions of ion channels.