Name: Netanel Tzarum

Title： Principal investigator

Email: Netanel.Tzarum@mail.huji.ac.il

Tel: +972 (0)26585447

Research Interests

Viruses are considered as entities at the border of the definition of life, and yet they are woven in every aspect of our natural world. Unfortunately, viruses are also major biological infectious agents that cause various acute and chronic infectious diseases.

Our research group is investigating, at the molecular level, the interactions between viruses and their host cells. As obligatory intracellular parasites, viruses relay on the machinery, metabolism, and energy sources of their host cells. Also, to initiate an infectious cycle that eventually results in the production of progeny virions, viruses must transfer their genetic information across the host cellular membranes. Therefore, a thorough understanding of the interactions between viruses and their host cells is critical for the understanding of infectious diseases, treatments, and prevention.

In our lab, we utilize structural biology together with molecular, biochemical and biophysical approaches to study how viruses specifically bind and enter to the host cells and how the host’s immune system recognize and neutralize the viruses, and apply this knowledge to the development of therapeutics and prophylactic vaccines for better treatment and prevention of infectious disease.

At present, our work is focused on the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and the recently emerged SARS-CoV-2.

Ten Selected Papers

*co-corresponding authors; #co-first authors

1. Netanel Tzarum, Erick Giang, Rameshwar U. Kadam, Fang Chen, Kenna Nagy, Elias H. Augestad, Rodrigo Velázquez-Moctezuma, Zhen-Yong Keck, Yuanzi Hua, Robyn L. Stanfield, Marlene Dreux, Jannick Prentoe, Steven K. H. Foung, Jens Bukh, Ian A. Wilson*, Mansun Law*. An alternate conformation of HCV E2 neutralizing face as an additional vaccine target. Sci Adv, 2020, 6(30): eabb5642.

2. Linling He#, Netanel Tzarum#, Xiaohe Lin, Benjamin Shapero, Cindy Sou, Colin J. Mann, Armando Stano, Lei Zhang, Kenna Nagy, Erick Giang, Mansun Law*, Ian A. Wilson*, Jiang Zhu*. Proof of concept for rational design of hepatitis C virus E2 core nanoparticle vaccines. Sci Adv, 2020, 6(16): eaaz6225.

3. Frederik Broszeit#, Netanel Tzarum, Xueyong Zhu, Nikoloz Nemanichvili, Dirk Eggink, Tim Leenders, Zeshi Li, Lin Liu, Margreet A. Wolfert, Andreas Papanikolaou, Carles Martı´nez-Romero,Ivan A. Gagarinov,1 Wenli Yu, Adolfo Garcı´a-Sastre, Tom Wennekes, Masatoshi Okamatsu, Monique H. Verheije, Ian A. Wilson, Geert-Jan Boons, Robert P. de Vries*. N-Glycolylneuraminic acid as a receptor for influenza a viruses. Cell Rep, 2019, 27: 3284–3294.

4. Netanel Tzarum, Erick Giang, Leopold Kong, Linling He, Jannick Prentoe, Elias Augestad, Yuanzi Hua, Shaun Castillo, Georg M. Lauer, Jens Bukh, Jiang Zhu*, Ian A. Wilson, Mansun Law*. Genetic and structural insights into broad neutralization of hepatitis C virus by human VH1-69 antibodies. Sci Adv, 2019, 5(1): eaav1882.

5. Fernando Aleman#, Netanel Tzarum#, Leopold Kong

, Kenna Nagy, Jiang Zhu, Ian A. Wilson*, Mansun Law*. Immunogenetic and structural analysis of a class of HCV broadly neutralizing antibodies and their precursors. PNAS, 2018, 115(29): 7569-7574.

6. Netanel Tzarum, Ian A. Wilson, Mansun Law*. The neutralizing face of hepatitis C virus E2 envelope glycoprotein. Front. Immunol, 2018, 9(1315).

7. Robert P de Vries#, Netanel Tzarum#, Wenjie Peng#, Andrew J Thompson, Iresha N Ambepitiya Wickramasinghe, Alba T Torrents de la Pena, Marielle J van Breemen, Kim M Bouwman, Xueyong Zhu, Ryan McBride, Wenli Yu, Rogier W Sanders, Monique H Verheije, Ian A Wilson*, James C Paulson*. A single mutation in Taiwanese H6N1 influenza hemagglutinin switches binding to human‐type receptors. EMBO Mol Med, 2017, 09: 99(9).

8. Netanel Tzarum, Ryan McBride, Corwin M. Nycholat, Wenjie Peng, James C. Paulson, Ian A. Wilson*. Unique structural features of influenza virus H15 hemagglutinin. J Virol, 2017, 9112(12).

9. Netanel Tzarum, Robert P. de Vries, Wenjie Peng, Andrew J. Thompson, Kim M. Bouwman, Ryan McBride, Wenli Yu, Xueyong Zhu, Monique H. Verheije, James C. Paulson*, Ian A. Wilson*. The 150-loop restricts the host specificity of human H10N8 influenza virus. Cell Rep, 2017, 19(2): 235-245.

10. Netanel Tzarum, Robert P. de Vries, Xueyong Zhu Wenli Yu, Ryan McBride, James C. Paulson*, Ian A. Wilson*. Structure and receptor binding of the hemagglutinin from a human H6N1 influenza virus. Cell Host Microbe, 2015, 173(3): 369–376.