Grant: Project Grant

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a herpesvirus that infects most people and is a causative agent for mononucleosis, oral hairy leukoplakia and several types of cancer, accounting for 200,000 new cancer cases and 140,000 deaths per year. EBV encodes many proteins to promote life-long infection. We have performed proteomic screens whose functions are not known but are believed to manipulate cells for EBV proteins that affect cellular protein modifications that are central to antiviral responses and cancer. We identified three EBV proteins (SM, BMRF1 and BRLF1) that have dramatic effects on these cellular modifications. This project will determine the mechanisms of action and functional consequences of these EBV protein activities, including how they impact EBV infection and cancer-associated pathways. The novel activities of these EBV proteins provide new therapeutic opportunities to inhibit EBV infection.