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Proteins have evolved through mutations, amino acid substitutions, since life appeared on Earth, some 109 years ago. The study of these phenomena has been of particular significance because of their impact on protein stability, function,…
We study hairpin folding dynamics by means of extensive computer simulations, with particular attention paid to the influence of helicity on the folding time $\tau$. We find that the dynamical exponent $\alpha$ of the anomalous scaling…
In temperate regions, respiratory virus epidemics recur on a yearly basis, primarily during the winter season. This is believed to be induced by seasonal forcing, where the rate at which the virus can be transmitted varies cyclically across…
Membrane budding and wrapping of particles, such as viruses and nano-particles, play a key role in intracellular transport and have been studied for a variety of biological and soft matter systems. We study nano-particle wrapping by…
Extreme enrichment of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) RNA genome for the purine A parallels the mild purine-loading of the RNAs of most organisms. This should militate against loop-loop "kissing" interactions between the structured…
While small single stranded viral shells encapsidate their genome spontaneously, many large viruses, such as the Herpes virus or Infectious Bursal Disease Virus (IBDV), typically require a template, consisting of either scaffolding proteins…
Seasonal influenza presents an ongoing challenge to public health. The rapid evolution of the flu virus necessitates annual vaccination campaigns, but the decision to get vaccinated or not in a given year is largely voluntary, at least in…
Myriad experiments have identified an important role for $\rm CD8^+$ T cell response mechanisms in determining recovery from influenza A virus infection. Animal models of influenza infection further implicate multiple elements of the immune…
The spread of COVID19 through droplets ejected by infected individuals during sneezing and coughing has been considered as a matter of key concern. Therefore, a quantitative understanding of the propagation of droplets containing virus…
We report that protein confinement within nanoscopic vesicular compartments corresponds to a liquid-liquid phase transition with the protein/water within vesicle lumen interacting very differently than in bulk. We show this effect leads to…
Population dynamics and evolutionary genetics underly the structure of ecosystems, changing on the same timescale for interacting species with rapid turnover, such as virus (e.g. HIV) and immune response. Thus, an important problem in…
Explainable and interpretable unsupervised machine learning helps understand the underlying structure of data. We introduce an ensemble analysis of machine learning models to consolidate their interpretation. Its application shows that…
The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to numerous articles from different scientific fields (epidemiology, virology, immunology, airflow physics...) without any effort to link these different insights. In this review, we aim to establish…
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has expanded its host range with recent detections in dairy cattle, raising critical concerns regarding within-herd persistence and cross-species spillover. This study develops a stochastic…
Many biological processes are governed by protein-ligand interactions. One such example is the recognition of self and nonself cells by the immune system. This immune response process is regulated by the major histocompatibility complex…
Modern biomedicine is challenged to predict the effects of genetic variation. Systematic functional assays of point mutants of proteins have provided valuable empirical information, but vast regions of sequence space remain unexplored.…
Protein function depends on both protein structure and amino acid (aa) sequence. Here we show that modular features of both structure and function can be quantified from the aa sequence alone for the amyloid 770 aa precursor protein A4.…
Forecasting infectious disease incidence can provide important information to guide public health planning, yet is difficult because epidemic dynamics are complex. Current mechanistic and statistical approaches often struggle to capture…
Physical properties of capsids of plant and animal viruses are important factors in capsid self-assembly, survival of viruses in the extracellular environment, and their cell infectivity. Virus shells can have applications as nanocontainers…
Based on a recent model of evolving viruses competing with an adapting immune system [1], we study the conditions under which a viral quasispecies can maximize its growth rate. The range of mutation rates that allows viruses to thrive is…