Thesis (Ph. D.)--Cornell University, August, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 152-175).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Cornell University, May, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 132-147).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2004. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 72-83).

Thesis (Ph.D. in Molecular Biology) -- University of Colorado Denver, 2007. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 96-117). Free to UCD affiliates. Online version available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations;

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri--Columbia, 2003. / "August 2003." Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 110-133). Also issued on the Internet.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karolinska institutet, 2006. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Similar to other non-enveloped viruses, the mechanism of cell entry for polyomaviruses is poorly understood. The polyomavirus capsid is an icosahedron composed of 72 pentamers of the major capsid protein VP1. There is one copy of minor capsid proteins, VP2 or VP3, at the center of each pentamer. According to previous studies, polyomavirus cell entry is a multi-step process which includes: 1) VP1 binding to sialic acid (SA) on the surface of host cells, 2) interaction of VP1 with alpha4beta1 integrin and 3) subsequent cell penetration. Biochemical studies have shown that SA alters polyomavirus protease sensitivity, suggesting a conformational change. The aim of this study was to determine these conformational changes at the molecular level. Therefore, we used single particle cryo-electron microscopy to construct 3D maps of wild type (WT) murine polyomavirus, WT bound to SA, a mutant with a disrupted integrin binding site, and the mutant bound to SA. Our results reveal that in both WT and mutant viruses, a significant conformational change happens after binding with SA which is seen as an additional ring of density inside the virus. Moreover some negative densities are seen in the difference map of WT and WT bound with SA, which suggests movement of some viral proteins after binding with SA.

Drosophila melanogaster has been widely used as a model organism to study the immune responses against bacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses. Here, I present a D. melanogaster virus as a model to study persistent virus infections. I have discovered and characterized the Nora virus, a small picorna-like RNA virus able to persistently infect D. melanogaster. The Nora virus genome encodes four open reading frames; a feature not present in other picorna-like viruses. The Nora virus is not closely related to any other virus family, but rather is the first virus in a new family of picorna-like viruses. The major replicative proteins of this virus are encoded in the second open reading frame and the capsid proteins are encoded in the fourth open reading frame. The sequence of the capsid proteins are not obviously related to any other previously described protein. By looking at expressed sequence tags (EST) projects, we identified an EST sequence from the parasitic wasp Nasonia which appears to encode proteins that have sequence similarity to the Nora virus capsid proteins. I have shown that the Nora virus persists in the fly intestine however I did not observe serious pathological effects in the infected flies. The virus is shed through feces and the transmission occurs horizontally via the ingestion of virus-contaminated food. Moreover, I observed variability in the viral titers among single flies of the same infected stock. Some flies are able to clear the Nora virus but not others and this phenomenon seems to be titer-dependent. Surprisingly, none of the known Drosophila antiviral responses play a role against the Nora virus. In conclusion, my work shows that studying the Nora virus interaction with the Drosophila immune system can lead to new findings on viral persistence mechanisms of RNA viruses and of Drosophila viral innate immunity.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karolinska institutet, 2007. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed Feb. 17, 2009). Includes bibliographical references.