Grant: Cloning the HHV-6 A and B genome for the identification of genes responsible
for pathogenicity

PI: Peter Medveczky, MD, University of South Florida, College of Medicine, USA

Recent research suggests that there are significant sequence, cell and tissue tropism differences between  HHV-6 A and B genomes.  Thus, it is suspected that one or possibly more genes are responsible for the unique virulence and cell – tissue tropism. A study led by Dr. Peter Medveczky, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at The University of South Florida and Member of the NIH Immunological Sciences Study Section, aims to identify the genes implicated in the production of HHV-6A & B related diseases through cloning the HHV-6A & B genome utilizing highly sensitive Bacterial Artificial Chromosome (“BAC”) technology. Dr. Medveczky will then create inter-variant recombinants of HHV-6A & B. The process of  taking DNA variants from both HHV-6 A&B to create a new combination that would not be created naturally will help determine which part of the genome encodes for genes involved in neurotropism, tissue tropism and AIDS.  Successful identification of the genes responsible for CNS disease would be a large step toward understanding the role of HHV-6 in Multiple Sclerosis and AIDS. Additionally, the non-pathogenic variant A could be constructed and used as a vaccine. The cloned recombinants of A&B will go to the HHV-6 Foundation Repository and serve as critically important reagents for future research.

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