Who we are

We are interested in the cellular basis of early infection events that define viral tropism and how this knowledge impacts pathogenesis and translates into new anti-viral strategies.

We want to understand  the fundamental question of ‘how, when and where do viruses replicate’.

Viruses are intracellular pathogens and understanding host pathways that define susceptibility to infection and disease are essential for the design of new therapies. Viral replication is shaped by the cellular microenvironment and key pathways include oxygen sensing and circadian control. Current projects focus on the hypoxic and circadian regulation of viruses and spatial mapping of the key factors that regulate virus tissue tropism.

Research Themes

Hepatitis viruses

Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major cause of liver disease and cancer, with limited curative treatments. The liver is a naturally hypoxic organ and we have identified a role for HIFs to activate viral transcription. Our goal is to understand hepatocyte-intrinsic and extrinsic pathways that define host susceptibility to HBV. In the diseased liver the frequency of infected cells is low and bulk RNA-sequencing approaches can overlook their transcriptomes. Spatial transcriptional profiling methods can identify rare HBV infected hepatocytes and their uninfected neighbours. When combined with single molecule resolution imaging of viral RNAs, these exciting technologies allow us to study virus-host interplay at the single cell level in unprecedented detail.

Respiratory viruses

Globally respiratory infections are responsible for approximately 4.25 million deaths/year (pre-COVID), mostly in children and the elderly. Viruses are responsible for the majority of these infections and developing broadly active tools to fight these viruses is a priority. We have shown that hypoxia inducible factors (HIFs) suppress SARS-CoV-2 replication, inflammatory responses and disease symptoms. We have extended these observations to Respiratory Syncytial virus and our HIF mimetic drugs potently inhibit infection.

Research Funding

The McKeating lab are delighted to be amongst the recipients of a prestigious Wellcome Trust Discovery Award. We aim to deliver an ambitious programme of research, applying cutting edge technologies to study the mechanisms of HBV persistence in chronic liver disease. We are excited to announce that we are welcoming applications for two funded post-doctoral research positions. Click here to find out more.