Prof. Dr. Yohei Yamauchi
Prof. Dr. Yohei Yamauchi
Full Professor at the Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences
ETH Zürich
Professur für Molekulare Medizin
Additional information
Research area
Cell Biology, Virology, Systems Biology
The Yamauchi group has a strong interest in how zoonotic viruses such as influenza A virus and SARS-CoV-2 take advantage of host cell processes and pathways to promote cell entry and infection and ultimately cause disease. Our group is interested in the pathology caused in individuals as much as the molecular mechanisms of infection. For example, we identify host cell genes that are essential for viral entry and infection by throughput RNAi screening, imaging, and image analysis in tissue culture cells. We then follow-up phenotypes to understand the mechanisms and underlying cell biology. We tackle research projects employing light and electron microscopy, biochemistry, proteomics, structural biology, mathematical modeling, and so on. Eventually, we aim to achieve a detailed understanding of the mechanisms of virus infections which will inform concepts of broadband antivirals to complement vaccines. We create a collaborative platfom that encourages the growth of the next generation of virus cell biologists and aim to promote human health and medicine through basic research. Click here for the Yamauchi lab website.
Current research interests:
- Cell biology of human virus entry into host cells, mehanism of virus uncoating and assembly
- Discovery of antivirals against viruses that cause human disease
- Overarching goal to apply innovative light, electron, and atomic force microscopy technologies to investigate virus-host interactions
Yohei Yamauchi was born in Nagoya in central Japan. He spent a large part of his childhood in the US and UK. He studied at the Nagoya University School of Medicine during which he began research on herpesvirus-host cell interactions. He developed a keen interest in virus cell biology and confocal microscopy. After graduation from medical school he performed two years of full-time clinical internship at the Nagoya First Japanese Red Cross Hospital, followed by a PhD at the Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine on Molecular Virology. In 2008, he became a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Biochemistry at D-BIOL, ETH Zurich to work on the cell biology of influenza A virus entry and uncoating. In 2015, he became an Oberassistent at the Institute of Molecular Life Sciences at the University of Zurich, and in 2016 became Associate Professor at the School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine of the University of Bristol, UK. In July 2022, he became Full Professor of Molecular Medicine at the Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (IPW) at D-CHAB, ETH Zurich. His virus cell biology research was awarded the Pfizer Research Prize for Infectiology, Rheumatology and Immunology in 2016, an ERC Synergy Grant CHUbVi (Ubiquitin Chains in Viral Infections) in 2019, and selected for European Commission Project of the Month in 2020.
Selected Publications:
1. Influenza A virus uses the aggresome processing machinery for host cell entry.
Banerjee I, Miyake Y, Nobs SP, Schneider C, Horvath P, Kopf M, Matthias P, Helenius A, Yamauchi Y. Science. 2014 Oct 24;346(6208):473-7. doi: 10.1126/science.1257037.PMID: 25342804
2. HATRIC-based identification of receptors for orphan ligands.
Sobotzki N, Schafroth MA, Rudnicka A, Koetemann A, Marty F, Goetze S, Yamauchi Y, Carreira EM, Wollscheid B. Nat Commun. 2018 Apr 17;9(1):1519. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-03936-z.PMID: 29666374
3. Influenza virus uses transportin 1 for vRNP debundling during cell entry.
Miyake Y, Keusch JJ, Decamps L, Ho-Xuan H, Iketani S, Gut H, Kutay U, Helenius A, Yamauchi Y. Nat Microbiol. 2019 Apr;4(4):578-586. doi: 10.1038/s41564-018-0332-2. Epub 2019 Jan 28.PMID: 30692667
4. Neuropilin-1 is a host factor for SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Daly JL, Simonetti B, Klein K, Chen KE, Williamson MK, Antón-Plágaro C, Shoemark DK, Simón-Gracia L, Bauer M, Hollandi R, Greber UF, Horvath P, Sessions RB, Helenius A, Hiscox JA, Teesalu T, Matthews DA, Davidson AD, Collins BM, Cullen PJ, Yamauchi Y. Science. 2020 Nov 13;370(6518):861-865. doi: 10.1126/science.abd3072. Epub 2020 Oct 20.PMID: 33082294
5. ESCPE-1 mediates retrograde endosomal sorting of the SARS-CoV-2 host factor Neuropilin-1.
Simonetti B, Daly JL, Simón-Gracia L, Klein K, Weeratunga S, Antón-Plágaro C, Tobi A, Hodgson L, Lewis PA, Heesom KJ, Shoemark DK, Davidson AD, Collins BM, Teesalu T, Yamauchi Y, Cullen PJ. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2022 Jun 21;119(25):e2201980119. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2201980119. Epub 2022 Jun 13.PMID: 35696571
Honours
| Year | Distinction |
|---|---|
| 2019 | ERC Synergy Grant |
| 2016 | Pfizer Research Prize |
Course Catalogue
Spring Semester 2025
| Number | Unit |
|---|---|
| 535-0391-00L | Pathobiology |
| 535-0900-00L | Seminars on Drug Discovery and Development |