Virology
 DMS Home  /  About DMS  /  Current Student Resources  /  Contact Us  /  Search 

Jae U. Jung, Ph.D.

Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics

Tumor Virology Division
New England Regional Primate Research Center
One Pine Hill Dr., Box 9102
Southborough, MA 01772
Tel: 508-624-8083
Fax: 508-786-1416
e-mail:jae_jung@hms.harvard.edu
10 postdoctoral fellows, 3 graduate students

 

  

Research in my laboratory is focused principally on understanding the molecular mechanisms of lymphoproliferative diseases induced by the gamma-2 herpesviruses and on developing primate models for human cancers. The gamma-2 herpesviruses include murine herpesvirus 68 (MHV 68), herpesvirus saimiri (HVS), rhesus rhadinovirus (RRV), and Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV, also called human herpesvirus 8). KSHV is consistently associated with Kaposi’s sarcoma, which is a multifocal vascular tumor of mixed cellular composition and is the most common tumor in patients with AIDS. RRV, which is most closely related to KSHV, provides a useful animal model for infection and disease progression in humans. Infection of New World primates with HVS results in rapidly progressing malignant T cell lymphomas. MHV 68 provides a small animal model for virus-host interaction. A striking feature of these gamma-2 herpesviruses is that they contain a number of cellular homologs that could possibly contribute to the progression of disease associated with the virus. Biochemical and immunological analysis of individual viral genes in cell culture and experimental infection of recombinant herpesviruses in animals are used to define their role in the escape from host immune surveillance and the onset of disease.

 

References:

  1. Liang C. Feng P., Ku B., Dotan I., Canaani D., Oh BH., and Jung JU. Autophagic and tumor suppressor activity of a novel Beclin1-binding UVRAG. 2006. Nature Cell Biology. In Press.
  2. Liang X, Pickering MT, Cho NH, Chang H, Volkert MR, Kowalik TF, Jung JU. Deregulation of DNA damage signal transduction by herpesvirus latency-associated m2. J Virol. 2006 Jun;80(12):5862-74.
  3. Shin YC, Nakamura H, Liang X, Feng P, Chang H, Kowalik TF, Jung JU. Inhibition of the ATM/p53 signal transduction pathway by Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus interferon regulatory factor 1. J Virol. 2006 Mar;80(5):2257-66.
  4. Cho NH, Kingston D, Chang H, Kwon EK, Kim JM, Lee JH, Chu H, Choi MS, Kim IS, Jung JU. Association of herpesvirus saimiri tip with lipid raft is essential for downregulation of T-cell receptor and CD4 coreceptor. J Virol. 2006 Jan;80(1):108-18