Please join Princeton Precision Health for a lunchtime seminar on Friday, October 24 , at 12 pm at 252 Nassau Street . Professor Ileana Cristea, from Princeton University, will present, “ [ https://pph.princeton.edu/events/2025/intra-and-inter-cellular-communication... | Intra- and inter-cellular communication within virus microenvironments. ] ” Abstract. Viral infections spread within complex and dynamic cellular microenvironments that shape the outcome of infection. As such, intra-cellular communication cascades, as well as communication between infected cells and cells in the surrounding tissue create a virus microenvironment. Here, we will describe some of our efforts to characterize communication at the intra- and inter-cellular levels using integrative microscopy, proteomics, and computational approaches. At the intra-cellular level, we define organelle remodeling events that drive changes in organelle-organelle contacts and organelle networks during infections with several DNA and RNA viruses. We discover infection-induced organelle contact structures that suppress immune signaling, increase mitochondrial bioenergetics, and promote virus production. At the inter-cellular level, we establish an approach to characterize a virus microenvironment, distinguishing and separating cell populations based on their proximity to an infection site. We show that an infection can prime uninfected, proximal cells for infections with several viruses. Mechanistic investigations point to the contribution of alterated cell cycle, organelle-organelle contacts, and mitochondrial functions in the increased susceptibility of uninfected, proximal cells to viral infections. We further show that the metabolic rewiring of an infected cell can drive changes in the host cell posttranslational modification landscape, including the lysine lactylation of host immune factors that suppreses their functions and facilitates virus spread. Overall, these findings demonstrate how infection reshapes the surrounding microenvironment through intra- and inter-cellular signaling to facilitate viral spread and how spatial proximity to an infection guides cell fate. Lunch will be provided. Hope to see you there! [ https://pph.princeton.edu/events | View all upcoming PPH events. ] Please note that getting to the seminar space at 252 Nassau Street currently requires that you climb a set of stairs. If an accommodation is needed, please contact PPH in advance at: [ mailto:princetonPPH@princeton.edu | princetonPPH@princeton.edu ]