Bruno Canard

Research Statement

AI generated · 2d ago

Bruno Canard's research centers on the molecular machinery that RNA viruses use to replicate and modify their genomes, with a long-running emphasis on viral mRNA capping and 2′-O-methyltransferase activity, established through structural and functional work on the flavivirus NS5 polymerase and later extended to the SARS-CoV nsp10/nsp16 complex. This line of inquiry also produced the identification of nsp9 as a single-stranded RNA-binding subunit unique among RNA viruses, and more recently turned to antiviral mechanisms, including structural requirements at the SARS-CoV-2 nsp12 RdRp and nsp14 exonuclease active sites relevant to remdesivir, and favipiravir-driven lethal mutagenesis by the viral polymerase complex. Beyond these lead-author studies, Canard contributed as a co-author to work describing a furin-like cleavage site in the 2019-nCoV spike glycoprotein, and to the characterization of a coronavirus protein complex integrating processive RNA polymerase and exonuclease activities, the latter building on the earlier discovery of a proofreading exoribonuclease in coronavirus RNA synthesis. No software, datasets, patents, or grants are indexed beyond his publications. Across these works, the through-line is mechanistic dissection of how RNA viruses copy, cap, and proofread their genomes, often in collaboration with researchers such as Alexander E. Gorbalenya.

Most Cited Works

SAMHD1 restricts the replication of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 by depleting the intracellular pool of deoxynucleoside triphosphates

Hichem Lahouassa, Waaqo Daddacha, Henning Hofmann, Diana Ayinde, Eric C Logue, Loïc Dragin, Nicolin Bloch, Claire Maudet, Matthieu Bertrand, Thomas Gramberg, Gianfranco Pancino, Stéphane Priet, Bruno Canard, Nadine Laguette, Monsef Benkirane, Catherine Transy, Nathaniel R Landau, Baek Kim, Florence Margottin-Goguet

Nature Immunology2012

852Citations

Discovery of an RNA virus 3′→5′ exoribonuclease that is critically involved in coronavirus RNA synthesis

Research Areas

Enzyme Structure and FunctionVirology and Viral DiseasesSARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 ResearchProtein Structure and DynamicsMosquito-borne diseases and control

Affiliations & Education

Employment

CNRS Délégation Provence et Corse(FR)

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Sources