Francois Jean

Francois Jean (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada)

 Resume: Dr. François Jean is an associate professor and the scientific director of the University of British Columbia Facility for Infectious Disease and Epidemic Research. He has won several prestigious scholarly awards including a new investigator award from CIHR/Health Canada, a Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies Early Career UBC Award, the Fisher Scientific Award from the Canadian Society for Microbiologists, and the UBC Faculty of Science Service Award in recognition of his leadership role in establishing one of the largest university-based CL-3 facilities in the world. Dr. Jean has been leading major research initiatives to discover novel broad-spectrum antiviral agents and biomarkers directed at human viruses of great concern.  He has published 146 peer-review papers and abstracts, has given 64 invited presentations, and has mentored 81 trainees in virology.

Human site-1-protease/SKI-1: An emerging host-cell target for anti-dengue drug discovery

In this study, we hypothesize that targeting host cell S1P/SKI-1, a master regulators of lipid homeostasis, could represent a powerful approach to developing a novel class of broad-spectrum antivirals against infection associated with Flaviviridae viruses whose lifecycle depend on the interaction with lipid droplets, the main lipid store in eukaryotic cells. Here, we report that strategic manipulation of human S1P/SKI-1 enzymatic activity by active-site-directed aminopyrrolidineamide-based inhibitors provides a means of effectively inhibiting viral infection of human hepatoma cells by all four dengue virus (DENV) serotypes. Our results reveal the potential therapeutic opportunities associated with the use of lipid droplet-modulating agents for controlling infection of DENVs that hijack the host cell lipid metabolism to support their lifecycle.