Poster #025
Characterizing the ICP4 Negative Feedback Circuit in Herpes Simplex Virus-1
Mentors: Sonali Chaturvedi, PhD and Yash Chaudhary, PhD
Herpes Simplex Virus-1 (HSV-1) is a virus that has been affecting the world for a long period, affecting a majority of the world’s population. The virus causes both oral and genital herpes while still not having either a cure or a vaccine. The largest problem with HSV-1 is the fact that it expresses no symptoms in a patient until a period of low health, like immunodeficiency after an organ transplant. The latency is caused by a protein called infected cell polypeptide-4 (ICP4) which will regulate its own promoter. As ICP4 is an immediate-early protein, it is one of the first proteins expressed, which is why it gatekeepers the downstream proteins and is responsible for essentially the entire viral replication process. As it can control whether it is expressed or not, the ICP4 protein can not express itself and thus be able to remain dormant until a period of immunodeficiency, like immediately after an organ transplantation, where it is able to cause dangerous complications. Thus, this negative feedback loop where the virus is able to control whether it is active or not must be characterized in order to create a vaccine.