Research Interests
Research Topics
Immunology, Virology, Molecular Evolution, Protein Structure, Bioinformatics
Disease Research Interests
Infectious Diseases
Research Description
The Wu lab focuses on three research questions:
- What are the constraints of virus evolution?
- Can we predict antibody specificity?
- Can we improve the quality and speed of vaccine design?
The Wu lab addresses these questions mainly in the context of influenza virus and SARS-CoV-2, using molecular virology, protein biochemistry, next-generation sequencing, high-throughput assays, x-ray crystallography, cryo-EM, and machine learning.
Education
Postdoc, The Scripps Research Institute, 2020
Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles, 2015
B.S., University of Virginia, 2010
Awards and Honors
Viruses Early Career Investigator Award (2022)
UIUC MCB Outstanding Junior Faculty Award (2022)
ASV Ann Palmenberg Junior Investigator Award (2022)
Searle Scholar Award (2022)
Michelson Prize (2021)
ESWI Young Scientist Innovative Award (2021)
NIH Director's New Innovator Award (2021)
NIH Pathway to Independence Award (2019)
Croucher Postdoctoral Fellowship (2015-2017)
Highlighted Publications
Representative Publications
Tan TJC, Mou Z, Lei R, Ouyang WO, Yuan M, Song G, Andrabi R, Wilson IA, Kieffer C, Dai X, Matreyek KA, Wu NC. High-throughput identification of prefusion-stabilizing mutations in SARS-CoV-2 spike. Nature Communications 14:2003 (2023)
Ouyang WO*, Tan TJC*, Lei R, Song G, Kieffer C, Andrabi R, Matreyek KA, Wu NC. Probing the biophysical constraints of SARS-CoV-2 spike N-terminal domain using deep mutational scanning. Science Advances 8:eadd7221 (2022)
Lei R, Tan TJC, Hernandez Garcia A, Wang Y, Diefenbacher M, Teo C, Gopan G, Tavakoli Dargani Z, Teo QW, Graham CS, Brooke CB, Nair SK, Wu NC. Prevalence and mechanisms of evolutionary contingency in human influenza H3N2 neuraminidase. Nature Communications 13:6443 (2022)
Wang Y*, Yuan M*, Lv H, Peng J, Wilson IA, Wu NC. A large-scale systematic survey reveals recurring molecular features of public antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2. Immunity 55:1105-1117.e4 (2022)
Koenig PA, Das H, Liu H, Kümmerer BM, Gohr FN, Jenster LM, Schiffelers LDJ, Tesfamariam YM, Uchima M, Wuerth JD, Gatterdam K, Ruetalo N, Christensen MH, Fandrey CI, Normann S, Tödtmann JMP, Pritzl S, Hanke L, Boos J, Yuan M, Zhu X, Schmid-Burgk JL, Kato H, Schindler M, Wilson IA, Geyer M, Ludwig KU, Hällberg BM#, Wu NC#, Schmidt FI#. Structure-guided multivalent nanobodies block SARS-CoV-2 infection and suppress mutational escape. Science 371:eabe6230 (2021)
(*co-first, #co-corresponding)
Recent Publications
Lei, R., Hernandez Garcia, A., Tan, T. J. C., Teo, Q. W., Wang, Y., Zhang, X., Luo, S., Nair, S. K., Peng, J., & Wu, N. C. (2023). Mutational fitness landscape of human influenza H3N2 neuraminidase. Cell Reports, 42(1), [111951]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111951
Luo, Y., Lv, H., Zhao, S., Sun, Y., Liu, C., Chen, C., Liang, W., Kwok, K. O., Teo, Q. W., So, R. TY., Lin, Y., Deng, Y., Li, B., Dai, Z., Zhu, J., Zhang, D., Fernando, J., Wu, N. C., Tun, H. M., ... Mu, X. (2023). Age-related seroprevalence trajectories of seasonal coronaviruses in children including neonates in Guangzhou, China. International Journal of Infectious Diseases, 127, 26-32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2022.11.044
Tan, T. J. C., Mou, Z., Lei, R., Ouyang, W. O., Yuan, M., Song, G., Andrabi, R., Wilson, I. A., Kieffer, C., Dai, X., Matreyek, K. A., & Wu, N. C. (2023). High-throughput identification of prefusion-stabilizing mutations in SARS-CoV-2 spike. Nature communications, 14(1), [2003]. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-37786-1
Diefenbacher, M., Tan, T. J. C., Bauer, D. L. V., Stadtmueller, B. M., Wu, N. C., & Brooke, C. B. (2022). Interactions between Influenza A Virus Nucleoprotein and Gene Segment Untranslated Regions Facilitate Selective Modulation of Viral Gene Expression. Journal of virology, 96(10). https://doi.org/10.1128/jvi.00205-22
Knyazev, S., Chhugani, K., Sarwal, V., Ayyala, R., Singh, H., Karthikeyan, S., Deshpande, D., Baykal, P. I., Comarova, Z., Lu, A., Porozov, Y., Vasylyeva, T. I., Wertheim, J. O., Tierney, B. T., Chiu, C. Y., Sun, R., Wu, A., Abedalthagafi, M. S., Pak, V. M., ... Mangul, S. (2022). Unlocking capacities of genomics for the COVID-19 response and future pandemics. Nature Methods, 19(4), 374-380. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-022-01444-z
