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The Enterovirus Research Laboratory The Enterovirus Research Laboratory studies the biologies of human enteroviruses, such as the coxsackieviruses. The group consists of several scientists with interests in enterovirus biology, pathogenesis and immunology. The goal of the Enterovirus Research Laboratory is to apply our diverse research interests and talents to understand basic questions of enterovirus biology. These results can then be applied to defeating enterovirus-induced disease and be used to complement and extend our knowledge of these important human viruses.
Enteroviruses are a large collection (a genus, actually) of viruses within a much larger family of viruses called the picornaviruses (Picornaviridae). For a look at the diversity of these viruses, go to the webpage The Picornavirus Home Page at http://www.iah.bbsrc.ac.uk/virus/picornaviridae/. The enteroviruses that most people know by name are the polioviruses, the viruses which used to cause annual outbreaks of paralytic poliomyelitis but which now are eradicated in our part of the world and in the process of eradication elsewhere. This wonderful improvement in our health was brought about by the development of the poliovirus vaccines. The Enterovirus Research Laboratory focuses on another group of the enteroviruses, called the group B coxsackieviruses (or CVB for short). The coxsackieviruses were named after being originally discovered in the small Hudson River town of Coxsackie in New York in the late 1940s. The CVB have been shown to be causes of numerous minor as well as serious human diseases such as aseptic meningitis, myocarditis, pancreatitis, myositis, and a host of 'less important' diseases. The interests of the Enterovirus Research Laboratory are primarily on two diseases: type 1 diabetes (T1D), which is believed to have an enteroviral etiology in some to many cases, and myocarditis or inflammation of the heart muscle, which is known to be induced by CVB infections. The laboratory has assembled and characterized a library of different CVB strains for its studies. There are six serotypes of CVB, called CVB1-6. Serotypes differ primarily on the basis of how the immune system of the mouse or human “sees” the virus; otherwise, the CVB1-6 are quite similar. Within any serotype, there are near myriad strains or variants of the virus. We have used the CVB3 serotype predominantly as the model system for we have derived molecular clones of several CVB3 genomes, which enables the genetic manipulation of these viruses. Updated 9/16/09 |
