Cancer virus interactions with host cells
Epstein Barr virus
EBV is the causative agent of Burkitt's Lymphoma, Hodgkin's Disease, Nasopharyngeal Carcimoma and Lymphoproliferative diseases in immunocompromised people. By adulthood, most people are infected with EBV and the virus persists in the body for life.
Dr Sinclair's research research group investigate the interactions between EBV and host cells that direct whether the virus establishes latency and promotes cancer development or undergoes lytic replication - destroying the cell. Members of the group can be found under the "people" section.
Our current research focuses on the ability of a transcription factor, Zta, to interact with DNA in a methylation-dependent manner, chromatin structure of the EBV genome, how the DNA damage response pathway interacts with viral replication and how EBV reprograms the expression of host genes.