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Francisco
González-Scarano
Professor
and Chair, Dept of Neurology
Professor, Dept of Microbiology
Microbiology,
Virology and Parasitology Program
Address
264 Clinical Rsch Bldg (CRB) / 6146
415 Curie Boulevard
Philadelphia, PA 19104-4283
Office tel.: 215 662-3360
Lab tel.: 215 898-3502
Fax: 215 662-3362
E-mail: scarano@mail.med.upenn.edu
Education
Yale University: BA, 1971.
Northwestern University: MD, 1975.
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Research
Interests
- HIV Neuropathogenesis, Neurovirulence, Bunyaviruses.
Key words: HIV, microglia, neuropathogenesis,
HIV Dementia
Search PubMed for articles
Description
of Research
Our laboratory studies viral neurotropism, in
two groups of viruses.
Human immunodeficiency virus causes a dementia,
in addition to its primary effects on the immune system. The
projects in the laboratory are primarily oriented to defining
the pathophysiology of this HIV Dementia, which may be mediated
by either direct infection of astrocytes, neurons and oligodendrocytes,
or more likely, by indirect effects from infection of microglia.
Current projects involve the analysis of CD4 dependence of
HIV strains and the potential for development of neutralization-resistant
strains in the CNS environment. An SIV project will look at
viral evolution within the CNS, including analysis of viral
genomes at the level of single cells.
La Crosse virus is a member of the Bunyaviridae, a large family
of viruses that includes the hantaviruses, which cause hantavirus
pulmonary syndrome. La Crosse is a common cause of pediatric
encephalitis. Current La Crosse projects look at the regions
of the viral glycoproteins responsible for entry into muscle
cells, and at the use of siRNA to inhibit La Crosse infections.
Recent
Publications
Albright, A.V., Vos, R.M, and González-Scarano,
F. Low-level Replication in Mixed Glial Cultures is Associated
with Alterations in the Processing of p55Gag Virology
325, 328-339, 2004.
Soldan, S.S., Plassmeyer, M.L., Matukonis, M.K.,
and González-Scarano, F. La Crosse virus Non-structural
Protein NSs Counteracts the Effects of siRNA. Journal
of Virology 79, 234-244, 2005.
González-Scarano, F. and Martín-García,
J. The Neuropathogenesis of AIDS. Nature Reviews in Immunology
5, 69-81, 2005.
Martín-García J., Cocklin S.,
Chaiken I.M., and González-Scarano F. Interaction with
CD4 and antibodies to CD4-induced epitopes of the envelope
gp120 from a microglia-adapted human immunodeficiency virus
type 1 isolate. Journal of Virology 79, 6703-6713,
2005.
Plassmeyer M.L., Soldan S.S., Stachelek K.M.,
Martín-García J., and González-Scarano
F., California serogroup Gc (G1) glycoprotein is the principal
determinant of pH-dependent cell fusion and entry. Virology,
2005, in press.
Lab
Rotation
Projects for 2005-2006
- Role of NSs in inhibition of siRNA in La
Crosse.
- Analysis of SIV gp120 sequences recovered
from CSF and brain.
- gp120-CD4 interaction of HIV isolates from
the CNS.
- gag assembly in macrophages.
- Lab
personnel:
- Wei Cao (Technician)
Maria Chen (Graduate Student)
Alexia Harrist (Graduate Student)
Tom Harvey (Technician)
Matthew Plassmeyer (Graduate Student)
Elena Ryzhova (Research Associate)
Samantha Soldan (Postdoctoral Fellow)
Karen Stachelek (Technician)
last updated 6/2005
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