Grant: Operating Grant

For some time we have used human adenoviruses as models to understand the molecular basis of cancer as such studies have provided many critical insights into processes of importance for cancer. In the present project we have identified an adenovirus protein, E4orf4, that kills cancer cells selectively and leaves normal human cells unaffected. We believe that E4orf4, or drugs that mimic its action, may provide novel avenues for cancer therapy and that if we understand exactly how E4orf4 works that we may be able to develop a drug that mimics its effects. In the present proposal we will examine details of the cancer cell killing specificity of E4orf4, examine the mechanism by which it kills, and begin the process of using this information in drug development.