Research Assistant Professor
lisa.miorin@mssm.edu

 

 

 

 

 

Research Interests

My main research focus is the study of the dynamic interplay between viruses and their hosts. Specifically, I’m interested in characterizing the mechanisms of innate immune restriction and viral immune evasion that impact the outcome of infection with emerging viruses. Throughout my career I acquired a wide background on the molecular and cell biology of host-pathogen interaction. My early work led to the development of a very robust tool for the study of TBEV RNA intracellular trafficking, which has significantly advanced our understanding of the spatio-temporal organization of the TBEV replication compartment and interferon (IFN) antagonism. Additionally, I studied the molecular mechanisms by which several other important human viruses inhibit IFN induction and signaling (TBEV, DENV, WNV, YFV, ZIKV, BTV, HIV, ASFV and more recently SARS-CoV-2). The prompt and tightly controlled induction of type I IFN is a central event of the immune defense against viral infection. Our laboratory has shown that several members of the tripartite motif-containing (TRIM) protein family are able to fine tune the host cell immune response to viral infection. However, the mechanism of action of most of these factors and the physiological relevance of their activity in vivo still remain poorly investigated. My work in the García-Sastre laboratory is also focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms through which novel TRIM proteins modulate innate immune signaling pathways and viral restriction using in vitro biochemical approaches as well as developing relevant small animal models for in vivo studies.

Notable Publications

Kehrer, T., Garcia-Sastre, A., and Miorin, L. (2021). Control of Innate Immune Activation by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 and Other Coronaviruses. J Interferon Cytokine Res 41, 205-219.

Zhang, K., Miorin, L., Makio, T., Dehghan, I., Gao, S., Xie, Y., Zhong, H., Esparza, M., Kehrer, T., Kumar, A., et al. (2021). Nsp1 protein of SARS-CoV-2 disrupts the mRNA export machinery to inhibit host gene expression. Sci Adv 7.

Miorin, L. *, Kehrer, T., Sanchez-Aparicio, M.T., Zhang, K., Cohen, P., Patel, R.S., Cupic, A., Makio, T., Mei, M., Moreno, E., et al. (2020). SARS-CoV-2 Orf6 hijacks Nup98 to block STAT nuclear import and antagonize interferon signaling. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 117, 28344-28354. (*co-corresponding author).

Miorin, L., Laurent-Rolle, M., Pisanelli, G., Co, P.H., Albrecht, R.A., Garcia-Sastre, A., and Morrison, J. (2019). Host-Specific NS5 Ubiquitination Determines Yellow Fever Virus Tropism. J Virol 93.

Miorin, L.*, Romero-Brey, I., Maiuri, P., Hoppe, S., Krijnse-Locker, J., Bartenschlager, R., and Marcello, A. (2013). Three-dimensional architecture of tick-borne encephalitis virus replication sites and trafficking of the replicated RNA. J Virol 87. (*co-corresponding author).