NIH Annual Report AI000979
NIH Annual Intramural Research Report
ZIA AI000979-14
Report Title
- Poxvirus host interactions, pathogenesis and immunity
2019 Fiscal Year
- October 01, 2018 - September 30, 2019
Principal Investigator
Bernard Moss, MD, PhD
Research Organization
- Genetic Engineering Section
Lab Staff and Collaborators within the Genetic Engineering Section
Patricia Earl, PhD
Jeffrey L Americo, MS
Ruikang Liu, PhD
Chen Peng, PhD
David John Villani
Wei Xiao
Catherine Griffin
Collaborators from other NIH organizations
- There were 3 NIH collaborators from other Institutes/Centers
| Eugen Christian Buehler, PhD | NHGRI |
| Madhu A Lal | NCATS |
| Pinar Tuzmen | NHGRI |
External Collaborator
- There was one External Collaborator
| Paul Gershon, PhD | University of California, Irvine, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry |
Keywords
cowpox virus pathogenesis, poxvirus immunity, smallpox vaccine, monkeypox virus pathogenesis, orthopoxvirus pathogenesis, poxvirus pathogenesis, vaccinia virus pathogenesis, cell mediated immunity, cytokines, monoclonal antibodies
Goals and Objectives
The goals of this project are to increase our understanding of poxvirus pathogenesis and the basis for immunity to poxviruses. We are particularly interested in the members of the orthopoxvirus genus, which include variola virus (the causal agent of smallpox), vaccinia virus (used as the smallpox vaccine), cowpox virus (causes zoonotic infections) and monkeypox virus (causes of human monkeypox in parts of Africa).
Summary
Poxviruses comprise a large family of complex DNA viruses that have vertebrate and invertebrate hosts. Two poxviruses, variola virus and molluscum contagiosum virus, are specific human pathogens. Variola virus was the cause of smallpox until the latter was eradicated but is still feared because of potential use a biological weapon. Molluscum contagiosum virus causes benign skin lesions in immunocompetent infants and a more severe and widespread disease in immunodeficient adults. In addition, several animal poxviruses can be transmitted to humans as zoonosis. The most serious of these is monkeypox, which has an estimated human mortality of 1 to 10%. The poxviruses express a large number of host immune evasion genes that contribute to virulence. The purpose of this project is to increase our understanding of poxvirus pathogenesis and the basis for immunity to poxviruses. Human genome-wide RNAi screen was conducted to determine host factors that impact poxvirus replication.
Publications Generated during the 2019 Reporting Period
- Ordered by publication type and then author name.
- Liu R, Mendez-Rios JD, Peng C, Xiao W, Weisberg AS, Wyatt LS, Moss B (2019). SPI-1 is a missing host-range factor required for replication of the attenuated modified vaccinia Ankara
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