Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) is a human herpesvirus infecting 90% of the world population. Transmitted through saliva, EBV infects both B cells and epithelial cells, persisting in the individual for a lifetime through a combination of latent and productive modes of infection. Latent infection promotes cell proliferation and therefore is a causative factor in the development of some kinds of cancer including nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). The EBV EBNA1 protein is the only viral protein expressed in all EBV-associated cancers. My project involves a using a comprehensive proteomics method to identify the effects of EBNA1 on the cellular proteins in NPC. I have identified several proteins that change in levels in the presence of EBNA1, which may contribute to metastasis and cancer progression. These results contribute to our understanding of EBV-induced cancers for developing therapeutics and the biology of virus-induced cancers that make up about 17% of all cancers.