Translational Research - Université de Genève

Virology
Caroline Tapparel Vu
Department of Internal Medicine Specialties
Caroline Tapparel Vu obtained her PhD in Molecular Virology in 1998 at the Faculty of Medicine
in Geneva. After postdoctoral training in human genetics and bacteriology, she set up basic
research on rhinoviruses and enteroviruses in the Department of Internal Medicine in 2005.
Insights into rhino/enterovirus diversity and evolution
Rhinoviruses and enteroviruses are small non-enveloped positive strand RNA viruses within
the Enterovirus genus of the Picornaviridae family. Human rhinoviruses (HRV) are frequently
associated with upper respiratory tract diseases and exacerbations of pre-existing disorders
such as asthma. Human enteroviruses (HEV) contain important neurotropic pathogens such
as Poliovirus or Enterovirus 71 (EV71). HRV and HEV are characterised by high genetic variability
which complicates the development of antivirals or vaccines. Our research group aims to
improve the understanding of the large phenotypic diversity observed among these closely
related viruses. Thanks to reverse genetic assays the group investigates the correlation between
genomic features and specific viral phenotypes.
In addition, two of the major mechanisms of picornavirus evolution, recombination and
mutations, are studied in vitro and during natural human infections, with the help of nextgeneration
sequencing approaches. Furthermore, we continue to develop novel generic
molecular tools to detect and quantify divergent viral strains with greater sensitivity.
40 Université de Genève • Faculté de médecine
Cordey S, Petty TJ, Schibler M, Martinez Y, Gerlach D, Van Belle S, Turin L, Zdobnov E, Kaiser L,
Tapparel C (2012) Identification of site-specific adaptations conferring increased neural cell
tropism during human enterovirus 71 infection. PloS Pathogens Epub ahead of print
Schibler M, Yerly S, Vieille G, Docquier M, Turin L, Kaiser L, Tapparel C (2012) A Critical Analysis
of Rhinovirus RNA Load Quantification by Real-TIme RT-PCR. J Clin Microbiol Epub ahead
of print .
Schibler M, Gerlach D, Martinez Y, Van Belle S, Turin L, Kaiser L, Tapparel C (2011) Experimental
Human Rhinovirus and Enterovirus Interspecies Recombination. J Gen Virol 93: 93-101.
Tapparel C, Cordey S, Junier T, Farinelli L, Van Belle S, Soccal PM, Aubert JD, Zdobnov E, Kaiser L
(2011) Rhinovirus Genome Variation during Chronic Upper and Lower Respiratory Tract
Infections. PLoS One 6:e21163.
Cordey S, Junier T, Gerlach D, Gobbini F, Farinelli L, Zdobnov E, Winther B, Tapparel C, Kaiser L
(2010) Rhinovirus genome evolution during experimental human infection PLoS One
5:e10588.
Tapparel C, Cordey S, Van Belle S, Turin L, Lee WM, Regamey N, Meylan P, Mühlemann K, Gobbini
F, Kaiser L (2009) New molecular detection tools adapted to emerging rhinoviruses and
enteroviruses. J Clin Microbiol 47:1742-9
Tapparel C, Junier T, Gerlach D, Van Belle S, Turin L, Cordey S, Mühlemann K, Regamey N, Aubert
JD, Soccal PM, Eigenmann P, Zdobnov E, Kaiser L (2009) New respiratory enterovirus and
recombinant rhinoviruses among circulating picornaviruses. Emerg Infect Dis 15:719-26.
Contact: Caroline.Tapparel@hcuge.ch
Virology
Université de Genève • Faculté de médecine
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