Prof. Dr. Melanie Brinkmann

Viruses are everywhere – in our body cells, on our skin, on surfaces, in air and soil, in the ocean. Why are they so successful? Sometimes so quiet, other times so threatening?
We study viruses because we want to understand how they spread and make us sick in order to prevent and treat viral disease. Prevention measures and antiviral treatments can only be efficient if we understand the detailed process of virus-host interaction. Herpesviruses for example, via millions of years of coevolution, have adapted perfectly to their hosts. They know exactly which switches to pull to weaken the immune response as well as to enhance cellular responses that benefit them. The mechanisms used by herpesviruses to manipulate our immune system are explored in our research projects. One of our goals is to identify novel viral proteins that are directly involved in manipulation of immune defenses. These proteins are potential targets for the development of new antiviral therapies. Another focus of our research is the characterization of the mechanism of action of so-called interferon-stimulated gene products that are crucial to fight viral infections.Did you know that viruses can cause birth defects?
The human herpesvirus Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infects about half of the European population, in most of us just causing mild or even no illness, but staying in our body for lifetime. However, in patients with weakened immune systems such as HIV/AIDS and transplant patients, CMV can cause severe complications. During pregnancy, a CMV infection can lead to infection of the fetus, which can result in permanent damage observed at birth or later in childhood, including mental handicap, deafness, microcephaly, and/or visual impairment. In fact, CMV infection during pregnancy is the most common cause of non-genetic deafness in children.
 To date, we have no vaccine against CMV and there is only a limited selection of antiviral drugs available – a condition that urgently needs to be improved.