Genetics of viral regulatory proteins. Mechanisms of repression and activation of latent or persistent viral genomes . These are latency studies that can be conducted in tissue culture and in animal models. We are interested in the viral and cellular factors that influence the chromatin state or packing of persistent viral genomes in ways that promote latency, or reactivation from latency. This project can involve protein biochemistry, virus genetics, molecular biology, cell culture, and animal studies.
Viruses usurp the metabolic machinery of their host for the purpose of making new virus.
Often viral regulatory proteins affect the expression of cellular genes. This modulation of cellular gene expression is often part of the process of pathogenesis. This project uses virus genetics and microchip array technology to determine the cellular pathways affected by HSV and its regulatory proteins. HSV as a vector. Therefore, we are further engineering HSV to appropriately express transgenes for the purpose of gene therapy.