Publication Date

2020

Document Type

Thesis

Committee Members

Katherine J. Excoffon, Ph.D. (Advisor); Abimbola O. Kolawole, Ph.D. (Advisor); Quan Zhong, Ph.D. (Committee Member)

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Abstract

Adenovirus infection mostly triggers cold-like symptoms, but in some cases, adenovirus infection may lead to severe symptoms and death. The primary receptor for many adenoviruses is the Coxsackievirus and Adenovirus receptor (CAR). There are two transmembrane isoforms of CAR; CAR^Ex7 and CAR^Ex8. CAR^Ex7 localizes at the basolateral surface and CAR^Ex8 localizes at the apical surface. I hypothesized that knockout of CAR^Ex8 will prevent apical adenovirus transduction, while knockout of all CAR isoforms will prevent apical and basolateral adenovirus transduction. To test this, I utilized CRISPR/Cas9 to knockout endogenous CAR^Ex8 or all CAR isoforms in MDCK-CAR^Ex8 cells. The results indicate that knockdown of CAR^Ex8 significantly decreased apical adenovirus transduction. Moreover, the knockdown of total CAR resulted in a decline in all adenovirus transduction. The data indicate that CAR^Ex8 localization promotes adenovirus entry, which might provide potential targets for adenovirus gene therapy.

Page Count

76

Department or Program

Department of Biological Sciences

Year Degree Awarded

2020


Included in

Biology Commons

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