Yuan Chang
University of Pittsburgh, PA·Microbiology & Immunology
Some viruses stay in the body for decades and can eventually cause cancer. To persist, many enter latency, a quiet state in which they stop making new virus particles and so escape the immune system.
- Fields
Microbiology & Immunology
Biochemistry
Medicine & Clinical Research
- Topics
Merkel cell polyomavirus
MCPyV
Merkel cell carcinoma
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Nov 2028
What they work on
- Visualize single molecules of Merkel cell polyomavirus Large T protein binding, assembling and starting to unwind viral DNA, using the LUMICKS C-Trap optical tweezers instrument.
- Identify host SCF E3 ligases that tag Large T protein for degradation and limit viral replication, using a CRISPR-Cas9 knockout library of 72 ligases and mutation of likely degradation sites.
- Track when viral and host factors, including cell-cycle stage, control MCPyV replication in single cells, using live imaging of a fluorescent reporter virus in FUCCI cell-cycle reporter cells.
More about the research
Latency is well understood for herpesviruses and retroviruses but not for Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV). This small DNA virus infects most children and young adults and stays quiet for years. When it reactivates, mutations may arise that drive Merkel cell carcinoma, one of the most severe skin cancers.
Why it matters
Merkel cell carcinoma is a severe skin cancer that can be driven by Merkel cell polyomavirus. Learning how the virus stays dormant and then reactivates may point to targeted therapies that keep persistent infections under control. It may also support preventive measures for this cancer. The findings could help with other polyomaviruses that cause disease in cancer patients and people with weakened immune systems.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Chelsey Spriggs
University of Michigan, MI·Microbiology & Immunology
Determine how Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV), a cancer-causing DNA virus, targets and crosses the nuclear envelope, using molecular biology, biochemistry and high-resolution microscopy.
James Pipas
University of Pittsburgh, PA·Microbiology & Immunology
Test whether BKV establishes latency in renal proximal tubule epithelia, the kidney tubule cells it infects best, by comparing viral gene expression in sparse versus growth-arrested dense cultures.
Shaun Olsen
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, TX·Biochemistry
Determine the structural and molecular basis by which the RAD51 paralog complex CX3 (RAD51C-XRCC3) promotes RAD51 filament assembly on single-stranded DNA, using cryo-EM and biochemical assays.
The school
University of Pittsburgh: 83 labs on PI Pages, $1.5B a year on research, 403 research doctorates a year.
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