Laboratory of Dr Ursula Gompels
Research is mainly focused on the human herpesviruses, HHV-6 and HHV-8.
These viruses are associated with pathology in immunosupressed and immunocompetent hosts. The group established the complete genome sequence of HHV-6 some years ago. Post-genomic analyses now focus on a) molecular mediators of infection and b) viral homologues of host cellular genes mediating immunity. Genes encoding viral glycoprotein complexes involved in cellular fusion have been characterised, with applications to vaccine development. The identified HHV-6 chemokine receptor binds and causes down regulation of specific chemokines, which is a novel immunomodulatory mechanism, with potential applications in immunotherapy of other diseases. A strong collaboration with GlaxoWellcome has been established through a Royal Society Industrial Fellowship.
Output from projects
Anderson, R.A., and Gompels, U.A. N and C-terminal external domains of human herpesvirus 6 glycoprotein H affect a fusion-associated conformation mediated by glycoprotein L binding the N-terminus. Journal of General Virology 1999;81:1485-1494.
French, C., Menegazzi, P., Nicholson, L., Macauley, H., DiLuca, D. and Gompels, U.A. Novel, non-consensus cellular splicing regulates expression of a highly variable chemokine-like protein specific for human herpesvirus 6. Virology 1999;262:139-151.
Gompels, U.A. Human herpesvirus 6 and 7 (HHV-6 and HHV-7). In. Principles and Practice of Clinical Virology. Eds. A.J. Zuckerman, J.E. Bantavala and J.R. Pattison. John Wiley and Sons, London, 1999; pp. 1-30.
Milne RS, Mattick C, Nicholson L, Devaraj P, Alcami A, Gompels UA. RANTES binding and down-regulation by a novel human herpesvirus-6 beta chemokine receptor. J Immunol. 2000 Mar 1;164(5):2396-404.
