Rij, van

Mosquitoes and other insects are vectors for transmission of many important viral pathogens. Some of these arthropod-borne (arbo-)viruses are responsible for worldwide epidemics and high mortality rates. For example, Dengue virus, a (+) RNA virus from the Flavivirus family, causes an estimated 50 million infections per year worldwide and can causes severe, sometimes fatal disease. The antiviral immune response in the insect vector is an important determinant for transmission of arboviruses.

Vertebrates depend on a sophisticated network of innate and adaptive immune responses for antiviral defense. Insects and other non-vertebrates, however, lack these responses; yet, they are able to effectively clear viral infections. We recently showed that RNA interference (RNAi) - post-transcriptional gene silencing guided by small interfering RNA (siRNA) - is an important antiviral immune response in the fruitfly, Drosophila melanogaster. We study innate antiviral immunity using a combination of molecular virology, mammalian and insect cell biology,  and fly genetics. Specific research interests include: i) The role of RNAi in antiviral immunity, and viral mechanisms to evade or suppress the RNAi response. ii) The identification of novel antiviral mechanisms in insects. iii) The mechanism of Dengue virus replication and the identification and characterization of compounds with antiviral activity against Dengue virus.

Ronald van Rij is assistant professor at the Dept of Medical Microbiology. He obtained his PhD Cum Laude from the University of Amsterdam. After post-doctoral training at the University of California San Francisco, USA and the Hubrecht Institute, Utrecht, the Netherlands, he moved to Nijmegen as a recipient of an NCMLS tenure-track fellowship. He recently received a VIDI fellowship from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) and the Kluyver Award from the Netherlands Society for Microbiology (NVvM) in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the field of microbiology.

• van Mierlo JT, van Cleef KW, van Rij RP. Small silencing RNAs - piecing together a viral genome. Cell Host Microbe. 7:87-9, 2010.

• Van Rij RP, and Berezikov E. Small RNAs and the control of transposons and viruses in Drosophila. Trends Microbiol 17:163-71, 2009.

• Saleh MC, Tassetto M*, van Rij RP*, Goic B, Gausson V, Berry B, Jacquier C, Antoniewski C, Andino R. Antiviral immunity in Drosophila requires systemic RNA interference spread. Nature 458: 346-350, 2009. (*equal contribution).

• Van Rij RP, Saleh MC, Berry B, Foo C, Houk A, Antoniewski C, Andino R. The RNA silencing endonuclease ARGONAUTE 2 mediates specific antiviral immunity in Drosophila melanogaster. Genes & Dev 20: 2985-2995, 2006.

• Saleh MC*, Van Rij RP*, Hekele A, Gillis A, Foley E, O'Farrell PH, Andino R. The endocytic pathway mediates cell entry of dsRNA to induce RNAi silencing. Nature Cell Biology 8:793-802, 2006. (*equal contribution).