George Belov, Professor
Replication of positive-strand RNA viruses and virus-host interaction
Education
2001: Ph.D. M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
1992: MS Biology (with honors) M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
Professional Experiences
2016 - current: Associate Professor, Tenure. Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Maryland, College Park and VA-MD Regional College of Veterinary Medicine
010 - 2016: Assistant Professor. Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Maryland, College Park and VA-MD Regional College of Veterinary Medicine
2010: ORISE Fellow. Food and Drug Administration, Center for Biologics Evaluation and research
2002 - 2010: Postdoctoral Research Fellow. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, USA
2000 - 2002: Postdoctoral Research Associate. M. P. Chumakov Institute of Poliomyelitis and Viral Encephalitides, Moscow, Russia
1992 - 1997: Research Assistant. M. P. Chumakov Institute of Poliomyelitis and Viral Encephalitides, Moscow, Russia
Research Interests
Positive strand RNA viruses infect all eukaryotic organisms. These viruses include such important pathogens of humans and animals as hepatitis C virus, Foot and Mouth Disease virus, poliovirus, Dengue viruses, Zika virus, rhinoviruses, and many others. The majority of pathogenic positive-strand RNA viruses still cannot be controlled with vaccines or anti-viral drugs. These viruses have small genomes coding for a limited number of proteins, thus they have to rely on simple but efficient strategies of hijacking cellular metabolism and fighting the host anti-viral defenses. Importantly, even distantly-related positive-strand RNA viruses often rely on the same cellular factors and processes for their propagation, thus providing a possibility of developing broad-spectrum anti-viral therapeutics targeting critical virus-host interactions.
Our research is focused on the investigation of mechanisms these viruses use to hijack and subvert normal cellular pathways for the development of viral replication complexes. We employ modern molecular biology and virology techniques to study the contribution of cellular factors to the replication of positive-strand RNA We are particularly interested in how these viruses disassemble elements of normal cellular membrane metabolism and then combine them into new configurations to remodel cellular membranes into viral replication organelles.
Understanding these processes will provide us with new and effective measures against those pathogens which are markedly resistant to conventional therapies. Investigation of viral strategies of manipulating host metabolism also elucidates the intricate machinery of cellular regulatory networks which has important implications for broad areas of human health from inflammation to cancer.
Representative Publications
Viktorova EG, Gabaglio S, Meissner JM, Lee E, Moghimi S, Sztul E, Belov GA. A redundant mechanism of recruitment underlies the remarkable plasticity of the requirement of poliovirus replication for the cellular ArfGEF GBF1. J Virol. 2019 Aug 2;. doi: 10.1128/JVI.00856-19. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 31375590.
Viktorova EG, Nchoutmboube JA, Ford-Siltz LA, Iverson E, Belov GA. Phospholipid synthesis fueled by lipid droplets drives the structural development of poliovirus replication organelles. PLoS Pathog. 2018 Aug 27;14(8):e1007280. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1007280. eCollection 2018 Aug. PubMed [citation] PMID:30148882, PMCID: PMC6128640
Viktorova EG, Khattar SK, Kouiavskaia D, Laassri M, Zagorodnyaya T, Dragunsky E, Samal S, Chumakov K, Belov GA. Newcastle Disease Virus-Based Vectored Vaccine against Poliomyelitis. J Virol. 2018 Aug 16;92(17). pii: e00976-18. doi:10.1128/JVI.00976-18. Print 2018 Sep 1. PubMed [citation] PMID: 29925653, PMCID: PMC6096817
Belov GA. Dynamic lipid landscape of picornavirus replication organelles. Curr Opin Virol. 2016 May 27;19:1-6. doi: 10.1016/j.coviro.2016.05.003.
Zhang J, Zhang Z, Chukkapalli V, Nchoutmboube JA, Li J, Randall G, Belov GA, Wang X. Positive-strand RNA viruses stimulate host phosphatidylcholine synthesis at viral replication sites. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2016 Feb 23;113(8):E1064-73. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1519730113. Epub 2016 Feb 8.
Viktorova EG, Nchoutmboube J, Ford-Siltz LA and Belov GA. Cell-Specific Establishment of Poliovirus Resistance to an Inhibitor Targeting a Cellular Protein. J Virol. 2015 Apr 15;89(8):437286. doi: 10.1128/JVI.00055-15. Epub 2015 Feb 4.
Ilnytska O, Santiana M, Hsu NY, Du WL, Chen YH, Viktorova EG, Belov G, Brinker A, Storch J, Moore C, Dixon JL, Altan-Bonnet N. Enteroviruses harness the cellular endocytic machinery to remodel the host cell cholesterol landscape for effective viral replication. Cell Host Microbe. 2013 Sep 11;14(3):281-93. doi:10.1016/j.chom.2013.08.002. PubMed PMID: 24034614.
Nchoutmboube JA, Viktorova EG, Scott A, Ford LA, Pei Z, Watkins PA, Ernst R, and Belov GA. Increased long chain acyl-Coa synthetase activity and fatty acid import is linked to membrane synthesis for development of picornavirus replication organelles. PLoS Pathog. 2013; Jun;9(6):e1003401. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1003401. PubMed PMID: 23762027
Belov GA, Nair V, Hanssen B, Hoyt F, Fischer E and Ehrenfeld E. Complex Dynamic Development of Poliovirus Membranous Replication Complexes. J. Virol. 2012. 86(1):302-12
Nai-Yun H, Ilnytska O, Belov G, Santiana M, Ying-Han C, Kaushik-Basu N, Balla T, Ehrenfeld E, van Kuppeveld F, and Altan-Bonnet N. Viral Reorganization of the Secretory Pathway Generates Distinct Organelles for RNA Replication Cell. 2010;141(5):799-811
