Cytomegalovirus: the Rule Breaker of Virology
Event details
| Date | 27.05.2013 |
| Hour | 14:15 › 15:15 |
| Speaker |
Prof. Timothy F. Kowalik, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester MA (USA) Bio: Timothy Kowalik received his B.S. degree in Biology and Mathematics from Belmont Abbey College in 1982. He received his M.S. (1986) and his Ph.D. (1989) in Molecular Biology and Virology from Utah State University. Dr. Kowalik did postdoctoral research on virus-cell interactions from 1990-1993 at the Lineberger Cancer Center of the University of North Carolina. From 1993-1996, he continued his postdoctoral studies in the Department of Genetics at Duke University Medical Center where he analyzed the relationship between the cell cycle and apoptosis. During his postdoctoral training, Dr. Kowalik was a Fellow of the Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Cancer Research Fund and a Leukemia Society of America Special Fellow. In 1996, Dr. Kowalik joined the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School where he is an associate professor. |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
The field of virology is a world of paradigms. For example, viruses with DNA genomes inactivate tumor suppressors to prevent antiviral effects. Also, viruses with RNA genomes are genetically highly variable, whereas genetic information carried by DNA viruses is stable by virtue of proofreading activity associated with DNA replicases. Cytomegaloviruses (CMV) are common herpesviruses that coevolved with vertebrates. Human CMV is perhaps the most ancient virus that infects Homo sapiens. Recent studies have suggested that HCMV does not follow paradigms very well. Data will be presented that shows HCMV inducing a robust DNA damage response in infected cells, which activates the “antiviral” p53 tumor suppressor, yet HCMV requires this DNA damage response to replicate. Likewise, evidence of genomic diversity and rapid evolution of HCMV populations has been uncovered. The significance of these findings to HCMV infections and fundamental notions of genomic stability of DNA genomes will be discussed in the context of paradigms in virology.