Cellular Metabolism and Virus Replication

Ana Jiménez, associate professor of biology, and Geoff Holm, professor of biology, have received an award of $120,000 for their project "Cellular metabolism and virus replication: Effects of age, breed size, and cellular metabolic phenotype in oncolytic virus susceptibility in dogs." As with humans, dogs are susceptible to different types of cancers, especially in larger breeds, and tumors primarily occur in older animals. At the cellular level, this propensity may be associated with differences in metabolism that exist between dogs of different sizes and ages. One emerging field of cancer treatment, oncolytic virotherapy, uses viruses that preferentially replicate in tumor cells to destroy the tumor cells, either through direct damage or the induction of an anti-tumor immune response. The metabolic state of the cells may also influence the efficacy of this approach in the tumor.