We use cryo-electron microscopy (cryoEM) as the major tool for structure-guided antiviral drug discovery and vaccine design. Current focuses are human herpesviruses and hepatitis B virus.
Research Information
Research Interests
The Dai lab integrates biochemistry, cryo-EM structural biology and cell biology for hypothesis-driven, mechanistic studies aimed at uncovering the molecular logic underlying human diseases and identifying disease-modifying therapeutic targets. Our research spans a broad range of topics, with particular interest in viral infectious diseases, innate immunity, lytic cell death pathways and inflammatory diseases. Recent examples of our work in these areas include structural studies of human herpesvirus fusion proteins for vaccine design (Science Advances 2026, PMID: 42497258), structural mechanisms of SAMD9 autoinhibition and pathogenic dysregulation in MIRAGE syndrome (Science Advances 2026, in press), and the structural basis of NINJ1-mediated plasma membrane rupture in lytic cell death (Cell 2025, PMID: 39667936).
Publications
Selected publications with Dai as corresponding/co-corresponding author:
- Sahoo B, Mou Z, Liu W, Dubyak G, Dai X. How NINJ1 mediates plasma membrane rupture and why NINJ2 cannot. Cell. 2025;188(2):292-302 e11. PMID: 39667936; PMCID: PMC11761374.
- Park JB, Sahoo B, Sahoo AR, Kim D, Seo HD, Bowman J, Kwak MJ, Suh S, Buck M, Dai X, Jung JU. Structural basis for ligand promiscuity and high signaling activity of Kaposi's Sarcoma-associated Herpesvirus-encoded GPCR. Nat Commun. 2025;16(1):8403. PMID: 40998787; PMCID: PMC12462484.
- Mou Z, Wang S, Swanback L, Pan Y, Tsai T, Ji P, Su J, Sahoo B, Dai X. The native conformational landscape and priming mechanism of herpes simplex virus glycoprotein B. Sci Adv. 2026;12(30):eaed8023. PMID: 42497258; PMCID: PMC13398477.
- Mou Z, Zhang F, Morales M, Sahoo B, Dai X, Xiang Y. Structural Mechanisms of SAMD9 Autoinhibition and Pathogenic Dysregulation. bioRxiv. 2026:2026.02.02.703423. doi: 10.64898/2026.02.02.703423.
- Lei R, Kim W, Lv H, Mou Z, Scherm MJ, Schmitz AJ, Turner JS, Tan TJC, Wang Y, Ouyang WO, Liang W, Rivera-Cardona J, Teo C, Graham CS, Brooke CB, Presti RM, Mok CKP, Krammer F, Dai X, Ellebedy AH, Wu NC. Leveraging vaccination-induced protective antibodies to define conserved epitopes on influenza N2 neuraminidase. Immunity. 2023;56(11):2621-34 e6. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2023.10.005. PubMed PMID: 37967533; PMCID: PMC10655865.
To see a complete list of my publications: Google Scholar; NCBI Bibliography.