Herpesvirus-Host Cell Interactions
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and Kaposi’s sarcoma associated herpesvirus (KSHV) are human herpesviruses that are associated with a variety of malignancies. We seek to understand the genesis of virus-associated cancers by examining the mechanisms by which virus proteins interact with cell signaling pathways to promote cell proliferation and cell survival. The laboratory also studies the lytic stage of the EBV and KSHV life cycle that promotes virus persistence and spread. We have developed virus proteomic arrays as new tools for probing post-translational modifications such as phosphorylation and sumoylation that affect virus protein functions. The conserved herpesvirus protein kinase is an antiviral drug target. We are also using mass spectrometry to investigate the changes in the cell environment induced by this kinase to promote virus replication.
Pathways of human herpesvirus gene regulation, latency and pathogenesis; enhancer and silencer elements that modulate gene expression; mechanisms of positive and negative transcriptional regulation; interaction with and targeting to subnuclear domains by viral regulatory proteins; molecular piracy and promotion of angiogenesis by Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus; virus evasion of interferon-mediated innate immunity; virus evolution and virus hunting