NIH R01 · 2024
Mechanism For Merkel Cell Polyomavirus Persistence
ABSTRACT A fundamental question in cancer virology is, how do some viruses persist as chronic viral infections that can lead to cancer? Virus latency–in which the virus does not replicate independently of the host cell or produce active viral progeny–is required for long term viral escape from immune surveillance. This leads to prolonged persistence and chronic infection. Latency is well-defined for herpesviruses and retroviruses but not for other viruses such as Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV). This proposal seeks to investigate how MCPyV controls its own replication to achieve persistence/latency with new technologies developed in our laboratory. The MCPyV Large T (LT) oncoprotein is a…
From the public funding record at NIH RePORTER. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.