# Hijacking a unique subcellular structure during viral entry to cause infection

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2020 · $195,000

## Abstract

Abstract
During entry, the archetype polyomavirus SV40 traffics from the plasma membrane to the late endosome (LE).
From the LE, SV40 is targeted to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) where it penetrates the ER membrane to
reach the cytosol and then the nucleus to cause infection. How SV40 targets from the LE to the ER remains
mysterious. This application hypothesizes that SV40 in fact exploits a unique subcellular structure called the
membrane contact site formed between the LE and ER to gain entry to the ER from the LE. Accordingly, the
objective of this R21 proposal is to elucidate, at the molecular level, how the MCS between the LE and ER is
hijacked to enable successful entry leading to productive SV40 infection.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9878049
- **Project number:** 5R21AI140449-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** Billy Tsai
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $195,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-02-20 → 2021-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9878049

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9878049, Hijacking a unique subcellular structure during viral entry to cause infection (5R21AI140449-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9878049. Licensed CC0.

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