Explore our recent publications highlighting advances in our understanding of viral entry, membrane fusion, and host restriction mechanisms. These studies use single-virus imaging, super-resolution microscopy, and innovative virology approaches to reveal how viruses such as HIV-1, influenza, and arenaviruses enter cells—and how host factors can block infection.
Selected Publications
- Buth, S.A., Marin, M., Zhang, Y., Avinoam, O. and Melikyan, G.B., 2026. Cyclosporine A rescues the influenza virus fusion with IFITM3-expressing cells by relocating the restriction factor to intraluminal vesicles of multivesicular bodies. J Virol 100, e0204525.
- Chen, Y.C., Sood, C., Marin, M., Aaron, J., Gratton, E., Salaita, K. and Melikyan, G.B., 2020. Super-Resolution Fluorescence Imaging Reveals That Serine Incorporator Protein 5 Inhibits Human Immunodeficiency Virus Fusion by Disrupting Envelope Glycoprotein Clusters. ACS nano 14, 10929-10943.
- Desai, T.M., Marin, M., Chin, C.R., Savidis, G., Brass, A.L. and Melikyan, G.B., 2014. IFITM3 restricts influenza A virus entry by blocking the formation of fusion pores following virus-endosome hemifusion. PLoS Pathog 10, e1004048.
- Markosyan, R.M., Marin, M. and Melikyan, G.B., 2025. SERINC5 co-expressed with HIV-1 Env or present in a target membrane destabilizes small fusion pores leading to their collapse. mBio, e0279325.
- Raghunath, G., Abbott, E.H., Marin, M., Wu, H., Reyes Ballista, J.M., Brindley, M.A. and Melikyan, G.B., 2024. Disruption of Transmembrane Phosphatidylserine Asymmetry by HIV-1 Incorporated SERINC5 Is Not Responsible for Virus Restriction. Biomolecules 14.
- Raghunath, G., Chen, Y.C., Marin, M., Wu, H. and Melikyan, G.B., 2022. SERINC5-Mediated Restriction of HIV-1 Infectivity Correlates with Resistance to Cholesterol Extraction but Not with Lipid Order of Viral Membrane. Viruses 14.
- Sharma, M., Marin, M., Wu, H., Prikryl, D. and Melikyan, G.B., 2023. Human Immunodeficiency Virus 1 Preferentially Fuses with pH-Neutral Endocytic Vesicles in Cell Lines and Human Primary CD4+ T-Cells. ACS nano 17, 17436-17450.
- Sood, C., Marin, M., Chande, A., Pizzato, M. and Melikyan, G.B., 2017. SERINC5 protein inhibits HIV-1 fusion pore formation by promoting functional inactivation of envelope glycoproteins. The Journal of biological chemistry 292, 6014-6026.
- Suddala, K.C., Lee, C.C., Meraner, P., Marin, M., Markosyan, R.M., Desai, T.M., Cohen, F.S., Brass, A.L. and Melikyan, G.B., 2019. Interferon-induced transmembrane protein 3 blocks fusion of sensitive but not resistant viruses by partitioning into virus-carrying endosomes. PLoS Pathog 15, e1007532.
- Torres-Rivera, D., Haghparast, S., Rieger, B. and Melikyan, G.B., 2026. Super-Resolution Imaging of Nuclear Pore Responses to Mechanical Stress and Energy Depletion. Viruses 18.
- Verma, S., Prikryl, D., Marin, M., Markosyan, R.M., Cimarelli, A. and Melikyan, G.B., 2026. Divergent HIV-1 Restriction Phenotypes of IFITMs Expressed in Target Cells and Incorporated into Virions. Biomolecules 16.
- Zhang, Y., Carlos de la Torre, J. and Melikyan, G.B., 2022. Human LAMP1 accelerates Lassa virus fusion and potently promotes fusion pore dilation upon forcing viral fusion with non-endosomal membrane. PLoS Pathog 18, e1010625.
- Zhang, Y., York, J., Brindley, M.A., Nunberg, J.H. and Melikyan, G.B., 2023. Fusogenic structural changes in arenavirus glycoproteins are associated with viroporin activity. PLoS Pathog 19, e1011217.