# Prospectively characterizing the functional and antigenic effects of mutations to viral entry proteins

> **NIH NIH R01** · FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER CENTER · 2022 · $439,462

## Abstract

Viruses pose a constant threat to human health in substantial part because of the 
evolution of their entry proteins. This evolution can enable viruses to infect new species 
(including humans), and to evade antibody-based immunity. We will integrate 
approaches from genomics, computation, and virology to develop a general platform to prospectively 
characterize how mutations to a virus's entry protein affect its ability to infect 
cells and resist neutralization by antibodies. This platform can be used to study the 
entry proteins of an extremely wide range of viruses. We will use it to characterize the effects 
of all amino-acid mutations to the entry proteins from four important emerging viruses: 
Ebola virus, MERS coronavirus, Lassa virus, and Nipah virus. We will comprehensively identify 
mutations that affect the ability of these viruses to infect cells from relevant host species, and 
use the results to inform algorithms that assess a virus's host adaptation from sequence. We 
will also develop algorithms that leverage the platform to quantify how all mutations to a 
viral entry protein affect its susceptibility to antibody-based immunity. Overall, this work 
develops a powerful and general method to prospectively characterize the implications of viral 
mutations.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10471843
- **Project number:** 5R01AI141707-06
- **Recipient organization:** FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Jesse D Bloom
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $439,462
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-24 → 2025-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10471843

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10471843, Prospectively characterizing the functional and antigenic effects of mutations to viral entry proteins (5R01AI141707-06). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-10 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10471843. Licensed CC0.

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