Immunology Graduate Group

Francisco Gonzalez-Scarano, M.D.
Neurology, Department of Medicine and Department of Microbiology

Office Phone:  (215) 662-3389
Email:  scarano@mail.med.upenn.edu

Education:
B.A., Yale University
M.D., Northwestern University
Post Doctoral Fellow, University of Pennsylvania

Research Interest

Pathogenesis of HIV and other neurotropic viruses

Research Summary

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

Expression of the chemokine receptor CCR5 in NT2 cells, a differentiated human neuronal cell line.

oriented to defining the patho-physiology of HIV Dementia, which may be mediated by either direct infection of astrocytes, neurons and oligo-dendrocytes, or more likely, by indirect effects from infection of microglia. Several projects are under way, and study the tropism of different viral isolates for primary brain-derived cells, including microglia, neurons and oligodendrocytes, and the molecular basis, including chemokine receptor use, for such tropism. We are also developing an in vitro system for defining neurotoxicity by culturing human microglia with post-mitotic neurons.

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. As a critical component in neurotropism, we are defining the entry pathway for La Crosse virus using recombinant proteins expressed in baculovirus and pseudotype assays, and we are developing a system for reverse genetics for this virus.

 

Biomedical Graduate Studies | University of Pennsylvania | Contact