Boston College · BiologyJohnson Virology Lab
Welkin E Johnson · Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
Research Focus
Dr. Welkin E Johnson's lab at Boston College studies how certain viruses, specifically lentiviruses like HIV-1 and HIV-2, interact with proteins in their host cells to invade them. They focus on a protein called Nup358, which plays a critical role in the virus's ability to enter the cell nucleus and replicate. By examining these interactions through various scientific techniques, the lab aims to uncover how these viruses have evolved to overcome host defenses and what this means for understanding and treating viral infections.
HIV-1HIV-2lentivirusescapsid proteinshost-virus interactionsviral evolutionnuclear transportstructural biologyTRIM5biochemistry
Research Aims
5AIM 01Investigate how the RBD4-CHD didomain contributes to nuclear docking of HIV-1
AIM 02Determine the specificity of capsid interactions with Nup358's RBD4-CHD didomain
AIM 03Assess the impact of capsid-CHD interactions on viral replication and infectivity
AIM 04Explore the evolutionary dynamics between lentiviruses and their host proteins
AIM 05Elucidate the conservation of capsid-CHD interaction in different primate lentiviruses
Skills the Lab Values
Cryo-electron microscopyvirology techniquesbiochemical assaysmolecular cloningcell cultureprotein purificationnuclear transport assaysviral replication studiescomparative genomicsdata analysis
Output against the department
Publications110bottom 38% of dept.636th of 1,033
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations5.0kbottom 38% of dept.638th of 1,033
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.