Minghua Li, PhD

Minghua Li, PhD
Assistant Professor

Department of Pathology

Phone: (409) 747-9884
Email: minli@utmb.edu

The Li Laboratory focuses on virus-host interactions for emerging and re-emerging viruses. Viruses are small intracellular pathogens that rely on host cell machinery for replication. For efficient spread, viruses must also evade cellular immunity including antiviral type I interferons and other antiviral effectors. We are interested in understanding this interface to define host proteins that both promote and restrict viral infection and determine how viruses manipulate host cellular pathway for productive replication. To identify and characterize such virus-host interactions, we use a variety of experimental approaches including genetic screen and mass spectrometry. The goal of our research is to investigate the mechanisms by which viruses and host cells interact and inform the development of novel host-directed therapeutics.

B.Med	Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, China	Medicine	2005
M.S.	Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China	Virology	2009
Ph.D.	University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA	Virology	2016
Postdoc	University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA	Virology	2022

UT System Rising STARs Award	2023
Appointment to “Training in Emerging Infectious Diseases” T32 Program	2020
American Society for Virology Postdoctoral Scholar Travel Award	2020
First Place poster presentation, Missouri Life Science Week	2014

American Society for Microbiology 2023-present
American Society for Virology 2019-present
2024
Li M. Innate immune response against vector-borne bunyavirus infection and viral countermeasures. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2024;14:1365221.
2023
Li M. Fortifying immunity: PLSCR1 picks battle against SARS-CoV-2. Cell Host Microbe. 2023 Sep 13;31(9):1417-1419.

Selected Publications Prior to Joining UTMB
Li M, Ayyanathan K, Dittmar M, Miller J, Tapescu I, Lee JS, McGrath ME, Xue Y, Vashee S, Schultz DC, Frieman MB, Cherry S. SARS-CoV-2 ORF6 protein does not antagonize interferon signaling in respiratory epithelial Calu-3 cells during infection. mBio. 2023 Aug 31;14(4):e0119423.
Li M, Ferretti M, Ying B, Descamps H, Lee E, Dittmar M, Lee JS, Whig K, Kamalia B, Dohnalová L, Uhr G, Zarkoob H, Chen YC, Ramage H, Ferrer M, Lynch K, Schultz DC, Thaiss CA, Diamond MS, Cherry S. Pharmacological activation of STING blocks SARS-CoV-2 infection. Sci Immunol. 2021 May 18;6(59).
Li M, Ramage H, Cherry S. Deciphering flavivirus-host interactions using quantitative proteomics. Curr Opin Immunol. 2020 Oct;66:90-97.
Li M, Johnson JR, Truong B, Kim G, Weinbren N, Dittmar M, Shah PS, Von Dollen J, Newton BW, Jang GM, Krogan NJ, Cherry S, Ramage H. Identification of antiviral roles for the exon-junction complex and nonsense-mediated decay in flaviviral infection. Nat Microbiol. 2019 Jun;4(6):985-995.
Li M, Waheed AA, Yu J, Zeng C, Chen HY, Zheng YM, Feizpour A, Reinhard BM, Gummuluru S, Lin S, Freed EO, Liu SL. TIM-mediated inhibition of HIV-1 release is antagonized by Nef but potentiated by SERINC proteins. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019 Mar 19;116(12):5705-5714.
Li M, Ablan SD, Miao C, Zheng YM, Fuller MS, Rennert PD, Maury W, Johnson MC, Freed EO, Liu SL. TIM-family proteins inhibit HIV-1 release. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Sep 2;111(35):E3699-707.

Minghua Li, PhDAssistant Professor

Minghua Li, PhD
Assistant Professor