Dr. Kylene Kehn-Hall's Laboratory
* Laboratory located at Mason's Prince William Campus
Potential 2012 Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Projects
Identification of Signaling Alterations following Viral Infections to Identify Novel Host-Based Therapeutics
Project #1: Rift Valley Fever Virus (RVFV) and Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Virus (VEEV) are emerging infectious pathogens and biological threat agents. RNA viruses such as RVFV and VEEV are highly dependent on host cell processes for replication. In particular, they use host protein networks for all aspects of their replication cycles including entry, transcription, replication, trafficking, morphogenesis, assembly and release. Students will be studying the alterations of signaling pathways following RVFV and/or VEEV infection through western blot analysis. Vaccine strains of the viruses (BSL-2) will be utilized for these studies. Students will learn techniques such as cell culture, viral infections, protein quantitation, SDS-PAGE and western blot analysis.
Project #2: There are no therapeutics for RVFV or VEEV. Based on the literature or other known signaling alterations, students will be assigned compound(s) that inhibit host proteins important for viral replication. These compounds will be tested for toxicity and efficacy against VEEV and/or RVFV. Vaccine strains of the viruses (BSL-2) will be utilized for these studies. Students will learn techniques such as cell culture, viral infections, plaque assays, q-RT-PCR assays, and cell viability assays.