Retroviruses Pathogenesis and Fitness:Virus and Host Determinants

John West, PhD - University of Nebraska-Lincoln, School of Biological Sciences.

The focus is to investigate determinants of retroviral replication and pathogenesis particularly with respect to the envelope glycoprotein. Viral fitness and evolution will be evaluated SCID-hu mice whereas virus-host interactions will be investigated using subtractive hybridization, molecular arrays and standard mutagenesis approaches.