Alexander Price, Ph.D.
Research summary:
The Price Lab studies how DNA viruses take over and subvert host cell biology, with a particular focus on how viruses steal cellular RNA processing machinery to make viral RNA. While viruses have evolved to be masters of molecular mimicry, viruses are constrained by a hard limit on maximum genome size. Any viral process that deviates from standard cell biology allows a host cell to sense infection, and transcription of these small genomes can lead to aberrant nucleic acids that can be sensed by the innate immune system. Beyond virology, our research reveals how transcriptional processes affect innate immunity and inflammation, with broad implications for the progression of autoimmune diseases and cancers where RNA biogenesis has become dysregulated.
Keywords:
Viral infection, RNA Transcription, RNA Processing, Nucleic Acid Sensing, Innate Immunity