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Wei-Shau Hu, Ph.D.

Wei-Shau Hu, Ph.D.

  • Center for Cancer Research
  • National Cancer Institute
Senior Investigator
Head, Viral Recombination Section

RESEARCH SUMMARY

Dr. Hu is widely recognized as a key authority on retroviral recombination, RNA packaging, and virus assembly.  Her innovations in combining advanced molecular biology and biochemical approaches with state-of-the-art microscopy techniques have led to significant advancements in HIV molecular virology research.  Under Dr. Hu’s direction, the Viral Recombination Section investigates multiple aspects of the retroviral life cycle that affect the transfer of viral genetic information.  These studies have profound implications for questions that are fundamentally important to HIV replication, which can be used to generate new strategies to block the spread of HIV.  Dr. Hu was appointed as HIV DRP Deputy Director of Basic Research in 2021.

Areas of Expertise

HIV Pathogenesis
Retroviral Replication
RNA Packaging and Virus Assembly

Publications

Selected Key Publications

HIV-1 usurps transcription start site heterogeneity of host RNA polymerase II to maximize replication fitness

Nikolaitchik OA, Islam S, Kitzrow JP, Duchon A, Cheng Z, Liu Y, Rawson JMO, Shao W, Nikolaitchik M, Kearney MF, Maldarelli F, Musier-Forsyth K, Pathak VK, Hu W-S
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 120: E2305103120, 2023. [ Journal Article ]

Selective packaging of HIV-1 RNA genome is guided by the stability of 5' untranslated region polyA stem

Nikolaitchik OA, Liu S, Kitzrow JP, Liu Y, Rawson JMO, Shakya S, Cheng Z, Pathak VP, Hu W-S, Musier-Forsyth K.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 118(50): e2114494118, 2021. [ Journal Article ]

Visualizing the translation and packaging of HIV-1 full-length RNA

Chen J, Liu Y, Wu B, Nikolaitchik OA, Mohan PR, Chen J, Pathak VK, Hu W-S
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 117: 6145-6155, 2020. [ Journal Article ]

Recombination is required for efficient HIV-1 replication and the maintenance of viral genome integrity

Rawson JMO, Nikolaitchik OA, Keele BF, Pathak VK, Hu W-S.
Nucleic Acids Res. 46: 10535-10545, 2018. [ Journal Article ]

HIV-1 RNA genome dimerizes on the plasma membrane in the presence of Gag protein

Chen J, Rahman SA, Nikolaitchik OA, Grunwald D, Sardo L, Burdick RC, Plisov S, Liang E, Tai S, Pathak VK, Hu W-S
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 113: E201-E208, 2016. [ Journal Article ]

Job Vacancies

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News

Poster Presentation at the NIH HIV Structural Biology Meeting 2024

Jonathan Kitzrow (post-doc) presented a poster at the 2024 HIV Structural Biology Meeting at NIH-Bethesda. A VideoCast is available here.

Hu lab at CSHL Retrovirology Meeting 2024

Members of the Hu lab attended the 2024 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Retrovirology Meeting.

Oral presentation was delivered by Saiful Islam (post-doc) and poster presentations were made by Zatao Cheng (post-doc), Alice Duchon (staff scientist), Sarah Harrison (post-bac), Jonathan Kitzrow (post-doc).

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Members of the DRP Hu lab at CSHL 2024

 Photo of Hu lab and others at CSHL.

Intramural AIDS Research Fellowship Awards

Intramural AIDS Research Fellowship (IARF) awards from the Office of AIDS Research, Office of Intramural Research, and Office of Intramural Research & Training in the National Institutes of Health include full stipend support to successful candidates who demonstrate outstanding scientific potential through both an imaginative and thoughtful research plan and a well thought out career development plan.

Akhil Chameettachel received an IARF Award in 2024 to support his project. Previous winners include: Jonathan Kitzrow (2022), Alice Duchon (2019, 2020) and Jonathan Rawson received an IARF Award in 2017 and 2018 to support his research project on "Understanding the Pseudodiploid Nature of HIV-1."

Wei-Shau Hu delivers a talk at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections

Wei-Shau delivered her talk “ HIV-1 Transcription Start Site Usage and Its Impact on Unspliced RNA Functions In Vivo" at CROI 2024. This work was done by members of the Hu lab, Saiful Islam, Zetao Cheng, Oliga Nikolaitchik and in collaboration with Vinay Pathak and Frank Maldarelli.

Alice Duchon publishes her review in HIV-1 RNA genome packaging

Alice Duchon publishes her review in mBio summarizing cis- and trans-acting elements critical for HIV-1 RNA packaging, locations of Gag:RNA interactions that mediate genome encapsidation, and the effects of transcription start sites on the structure and packaging of HIV-1 RNA. (2024)

Travel Award, HIV DRP Think Tank Meeting

Zetao Chris Cheng received a travel award for one of the two best presentations by NCI fellows at the 2023 HIV DRP Think Tank Meeting.  The $1000 travel award was provided by the HIV DRP, Center for Cancer Research, NCI. Yang Liu received a travel award for one of the two best presentations by NCI fellows at the 2015 HIV DRP Think Tank Meeting.  The $1000 travel award was provided by the HIV DRP, Center for Cancer Research, NCI.

Best oral presentation Award, 12th International Retroviral Symposium

Zetao Chris Cheng received the best oral presentation award (for postdocs) at the 12th International Retroviral Symposium in 2023.

Wei-Shau gave a talk at the NIH OAR Innovation in HIV Research Symposium

Wei-Shau gave a talk at the OAR Innovation in HIV Research Symposium on her labs recent PNAS (2023) paper: "HIV-1 usurps transcription start site heterogeneity of host RNA polymerase II to maximize replication fitness".

Wei-Shau Hu Appointed as a Deputy Director in HIV Dynamics and Replication Program

In October 2021, Wei-Shau Hu was appointed as HIV DRP Deputy Director of Basic Research.

Wei-Shau Hu Received 2021 Distinguished Research Career Award from The Ohio State University Center for Retrovirus Research

Wei-Shau Hu was selected by the Center for Retrovirus Research (CRR) of The Ohio State University to receive the 2021 Distinguished Research Career Award.  This annual award honors the distinguished research career of a scientist working in the field of retrovirology.  The retrovirologist is nominated by student and faculty members of the CRR and as part of the award recognition is invited to give a special lecture to all members of The Ohio State University biomedical research community, co-sponsored by the CRR, the Infectious Diseases Institute, the Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the campus-wide Virology Forum.  Dr. Hu received the award "in recognition of her substantial body of work contributing to our understanding of retroviral recombination, RNA packaging, and virus assembly."  The title of her keynote seminar was “How Does HIV-1 Transfer Genetic Information to Its Progeny?”

NIH Fellows Awards for Research Excellence

Jonathan Rawson received a 2021 NIH Fellows Award for Research Excellence (FARE) for travel to attend and present his work at a scientific meeting in the U.S.  This award, which acknowledges outstanding scientific research performed by intramural postdoctoral fellows, is sponsored by the NIH Fellows Committee, Scientific Directors, and Office of Intramural Training and Education and is funded by the Scientific Directors.  FARE awards are based on scientific merit, originality, experimental design, and overall quality and presentation of the abstracts.

Members of the Hu Lab who were FARE awardees in previous years include Alice Duchon and Chijioke Umunnakwe (2020), Jonathan Rawson (2019), Sheikh Abdul Rahman (2016), Luca Sardo (2015), Kari Dilley (2012), Michael Moore (2009), Mario P.-S. Chin (2006 and 2007), Kazushi Motomura (2007), and Olga Nikolaitchik (2006).

Wei-Shau Hu Elected to American Academy of Microbiology

Wei-Shau Hu was elected as a Fellow in the American Society of Microbiology (AAM) in February 2021.  The AAM is the honorific leadership group within the American Society for Microbiology, the world’s largest society dedicated to advancing the microbial sciences.  AAM Fellows are recognized as distinguished researchers who are "elected through a highly selective, annual, peer review process, based on their records of scientific achievement and original contributions that have advanced microbiology....Each elected Fellow has built an exemplary career in basic and applied research, teaching, clinical and public health, industry or government service."

New Investigator Scholarships, Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections

Jonathan Rawson was awarded a New Investigator Scholarship in 2021 to present his research findings in the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI).  CROI scholarship awardees in previous years include Alice Duchon and Jonathan Rawson (2020), Chijioke (CJ) Umunnakwe (2019), Yang Liu (2017), and Luca Sardo (2015).

PNAS Video on Cozzarelli Prize Awarded to Pathak and Hu Labs

In a video produced by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA (PNAS) about the 2020 Cozzarelli Prize in Biomedical Sciences, Vinay Pathak discusses the HIV-1 uncoating discovery by his research team in collaboration with Wei-Shau Hu’s lab.  The video can be viewed on the PNAS Cozzarelli Prize page and on the PNAS YouTube channel (click here).

The publication that Dr. Pathak discusses in the video (“HIV-1 uncoats in the nucleus near sites of integration,” PNAS 117:5486-5493, 2020) was also featured on the website of the Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute (“New study overturns conventional understanding of how HIV infection occurs”) and highlighted on the front cover of the Cold Spring Harbor 2020 Retroviruses Meeting abstract book.

PNAS Cozzarelli Prize Awarded to Pathak and Hu Labs

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Still image of movie S1 from PNAS 117:5486-5493, 2020, showing uncoating of an infectious HIV-1 complex

A recent study published by the research groups of Vinay Pathak and Wei-Shau Hu in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA (“HIV-1 uncoats in the nucleus near sites of integration,” PNAS 117: 5486-5493, 2020) was awarded the 2020 Cozzarelli Prize in the class of Biomedical Sciences.  The Cozzarelli Prize is awarded to just 6 papers chosen from nearly 4,000 published research articles, one in each of the 6 classes of the National Academy of Sciences.  They represent the top scientific research published in PNAS in 2020.  To read more about this award, click here.

Uncoating of an infectious HIV-1 complex is shown at left.  Click on the figure for a full caption and here to download the original video (Movie S1 in the paper).

This study was also featured on the website of the Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute (“New study overturns conventional understanding of how HIV infection occurs”) and highlighted on the front cover of the Cold Spring Harbor 2020 Retroviruses Meeting abstract book.

Research by Pathak and Hu Labs Featured on Cover of 2020 Retroviruses Meeting Abstract Book

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Front cover of 2020 Cold Spring Harbor Retroviruses Meeting abstract book

A recent study published by the research groups of Vinay Pathak and Wei-Shau Hu in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA (“HIV-1 uncoats in the nucleus near sites of integration,” PNAS 117:5486-5493, 2020) was featured on the front cover of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory 2020 Retroviruses Meeting abstract book.  Pathak lab member Ryan Burdick launched the meeting with his talk on the study and reported that HIV-1 uncoats in the nucleus near sites of integration.  Contrary to the prevailing theory for more than 40 years that retroviral uncoating occurs in the cytoplasm, the study team showed that HIV-1 cores are essentially intact as they enter the nucleus, where they complete reverse transcription before uncoating near their sites of integration into the host genome.  These unexpected results fundamentally alter the current understanding of HIV-1 replication, which could lead to the development of more effective strategies and drugs for the treatment of HIV infections.

In the cover image, the left panel shows an HIV-1 capsid localized in the nucleus and the right panel shows a site of transcription of the viral genome at the site where the capsid localized.  To read more about the study, see the original research article and the commentary "Entering and breaking for HIV?" in Nature Reviews Microbiology.

This study was also awarded the 2020 PNAS Cozzarelli Prize in Biomedical Sciences and featured on the website of the Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute (“New study overturns conventional understanding of how HIV infection occurs”).

Alumni

Benjamin Beasley, M.D., Ph.D.
1999-2001
Predoctoral Fellow, M.D./Ph.D. Student
Douglas Boyle
2003
Summer Student
Matthew Brown, B.S.
2021-2022
Postbaccalaureate fellow
Mary Buchanan, M.D.
2002-2003
Predoctoral Fellow, M.D. Student
Jianbo Chen, Ph.D.
2002-2020
Staff Scientist (retired)
Mario P.S. Chin, Ph.D.
2003-2008
Postdoctoral Fellow
Que Dang, Ph.D.
1999-2003
Predoctoral Fellow
Kari Dilley, Ph.D.
2009-2014
Postdoctoral Fellow
Alyssa Drosdak, M.D.
2009
Summer Student
William Fu, Ph.D.
2000-2005
Research Fellow
Andrea Galli, Ph.D.
2008-2011
Postdoctoral Fellow
Grant Hansman, Ph.D.
2009
Postdoctoral Fellow
Steven Hatch, Ph.D.
2010-2013
Postdoctoral Fellow
Islam Hussein, Ph.D.
2007-2010
Postdoctoral Fellow
Aviva Joseph, Ph.D.
2011
Postdoctoral Fellow
Malika Kuzembayeva, Ph.D.
2013-2015
Postdoctoral Fellow
Maria Leavitt, Ph.D.
2003-2005
Research Fellow
Sook-Kyung Lee, Ph.D.
2001-2006
Postdoctoral Fellow
Louis Levine
2013-2014
Summer Student
Edward Liang, B.S.
2013 and 2014
Summer Student
Yang Liu, Ph.D.
2013-2019
Postdoctoral Fellow
Dmitriy Mazurov, M.D., Ph.D.
2014
Research Collaborator
Franck Mbuntcha Bogni
2018-2019
Summer Student
Preeti Mohan, B.S.
2018-2019
Postbaccalaureate Fellow
Michael (Kenny) Moore, Ph.D.
2005-2008
Postdoctoral Fellow
Kazushi Motomura, M.D., Ph.D.
2004-2006
Postdoctoral Fellow
Na Ni, Ph.D.
2007-2012
Postdoctoral Fellow
Erica Nicewarner, B.S.
2010-2011
Summer Student
Eduardo Paredes, Ph.D.
2013
Postdoctoral Fellow
Medha Parulekar, M.D.
2014
Summer Student
Leah Pierson, B.A.
2015
Summer Student
Sergey Plisov, B.S.
2012-2015
Postbaccalaureate Fellow
Dexter Poon, Ph.D.
2000-2003
Research Fellow
V.V.S.P. Prasad, Ph.D.
2005-2007
Postdoctoral Fellow
Rhea Puthumana, B.S.
2015-2016
Summer Student
Sheikh Abdul Rahman, Ph.D.
2014-2017
Postdoctoral Fellow
Sara Rasmussen, M.D., Ph.D.
1999-2002
Predoctoral Fellow, M.D./Ph.D. Student
Jonathan Rawson, Ph.D.
2016-2021
Postdoctoral Fellow
Terence Rhodes, M.D., Ph.D.
2009-2004
Predoctoral Fellow, M.D./Ph.D. Student
Steven Santos, Ph.D.
2015-2017
Postdoctoral Fellow
Luca Sardo, Ph.D.
2010-2015
Postdoctoral Fellow
Saurabh Shakya, Ph.D.
2019-2020
Postdoctoral Fellow
Xayathed Somoulay, B.S.
2018-2019
Postbaccalaureate Fellow
Qinwei Sun, B.S.
2016 and 2018
Summer Student
Sheldon Shih-Han Tai, Ph.D.
2010-2013
Postdoctoral Fellow
Chijioke Umunnakwe, Ph.D.
2015-2020
Postdoctoral Fellow
Stephanie Vece, M.P.A.
2010-2011
Summer Student
Avanish Yendluri
2017
Summer Student
Jennifer Yoo, B.A.
2019-2020
Postbaccalaureate Fellow

Covers

Cover graphic of 2020 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Retroviruses Meeting

HIV-1 Uncoats in the Nucleus Near Sites of Integration

Published Date

A recent study published by the research groups of Vinay Pathak and Wei-Shau Hu in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA (“HIV-1 uncoats in the nucleus near sites of integration,” PNAS 117:5486-5493, 2020) was featured on the front cover of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory 2020 Retroviruses Meeting abstract book.  Pathak lab member Ryan Burdick launched the meeting with his talk on the study and reported that HIV-1 uncoats in the nucleus near sites of integration.  Contrary to the prevailing theory for more than 40 years that retroviral uncoating occurs in the cytoplasm, the study team showed that HIV-1 cores are essentially intact as they enter the nucleus, where they complete reverse transcription before uncoating near their sites of integration into the host genome.  These unexpected results fundamentally alter the current understanding of HIV-1 replication, which could lead to the development of more effective strategies and drugs for the treatment of HIV infections.

In the cover image, the left panel shows an HIV-1 capsid localized in the nucleus and the right panel shows a site of transcription of the viral genome at the site where the capsid localized. 

To read more about the study, see the original research article and the commentary "Entering and breaking for HIV?" in Nature Reviews Microbiology.

This study was also awarded the 2020 PNAS Cozzarelli Prize in Biomedical Sciences and featured on the website of the Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute (“New study overturns conventional understanding of how HIV infection occurs”).

Citation

Burdick RC, Li C, Munshi MH, Rawson, Nagashima K, Hu W-S, Pathak VK.  Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Retroviruses Meeting Abstract Book, May 2020.