Description:

Title:  A Viral Noncoding Reshapes the Transcriptome of the Host Cell Through Novel Molecular Mechanisms

Speaker: Demián Cazalla, PhD, Department of Biochemistry, University of Utah School of Medicine

Topic:

Viruses express different kinds of noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs). Although identification of viral ncRNA species has been facilitated by the advent of high-throughput sequencing methods, ascribing functions to viral ncRNAs remains challenging. This shortcoming hinders our ability to understand how viruses create a cellular environment that permits the viral life cycle. I will describe our recent efforts to dissect the molecular functions of HSUR1, a viral ncRNA expressed by an oncogenic gammaherpesvirus that reshapes the transcriptome of the infected cell through novel molecular mechanisms.

Host: Jesus Ortega, Graduate Student, Lab of Eva Gottwein, PhD, Dept. of Microbiology-Immunology