Faculty > Leib

David A. Leib, Ph.D.

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Professor, Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
Professor, Molecular Microbiology
(314) 362-2689

B.Sc. Biology, University of Birmingham, UK (1983); Ph.D. Virology, University of Liverpool, UK (1986); Fellow, Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (1987-1990)

Research Area: Cornea

Research Interests:

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) is significant ocular pathogen and it exhibits two different modes of gene expression during its life cycle. During the acute phase of infection all of its genes are expressed. During latency, however, viral gene expression is almost completely repressed. Our interest is to define the nature of this switch between the acute and latent phases of infection. Our approach is to introduce mutations into the viral genome to generate recombinant viruses allowing the study of viral pathogenesis in the cornea and nervous system at the molecular level.

A number of viral gene products presently under study are important determinants of viral pathogenesis or alternatively are important for regulating the balance between lytic and latent infection. We are investigating the roles of innate immunity, particularly interferons and interferon-induced factors in modulating acute infections of both mutant and wild-type viruses. We are using knockout mice to investigate whether mutations in host genes can compensate for mutations in viral genes that result in impaired growth in normal mice. We have also developed a novel non-invasive real-time bioluminescence imaging technology to study viral growth and spread in real time in mice, and time-lapse video microscopy to study axonal transport in cultured neurons. Additionally we are employing both host and viral gene array approaches to the study of HSV gene expression both in vitro and in vivo. We are thereby elucidating the specific interplay between viral and host factors which are pivotal in determining the pathogenesis of viral infections.

Selected Publications:

  1. Luker, G.D., and Leib, D.A. Luciferase real time bioluminescence imaging for the study of viral pathogenesis. Methods in Molecular Biology 2005 292: 285-296.
  2. Stuart, P.M., Summers, B.C., Morris, J.E., Morrison, L.M., and Leib, D.A. CD8 T cells control corneal disease following ocular infection with HSV-1. Journal of General Virology 2004 85: 2055-2063.
  3. Strand, S.S., VanHeyningen, T.K., and Leib, D.A. The virion host shutoff protein of HSV-1 shows RNA degradation activity in primary neurons. Journal of Virology 2004 78: 8400-8403.
  4. Strand, S.S. and Leib, D.A. Studies of the role of the VP16-binding domain of vhs in viral growth, host shutoff, activity and pathogenesis. Journal of Virology, 2004 78:13562-13572.
  5. Luker, G.D., Prior, J.L., Song, J., Pica, C.M., and Leib, D.A. Bioluminescence imaging reveals systemic dissemination of HSV-1 in the absence of interferon receptors. Journal of Virology 2003 77:11082-11093


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