Discovery and Characterization of Novel Anelloviridae Protein Activities and Their Potential Cancer-Selective Toxicity

Byrne, Chloe; Takami, Jessica; Dancer, Shane; Wheeler, Aaron

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Discovery and Characterization of Novel Anelloviridae Protein Activities and Their Potential Cancer-Selective Toxicity

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Chicken anemia virus' viral protein 3 (CAV VP3), apoptin, is able to initiate onco-specific induction of apoptosis. The protein's ability to discriminate between transformed and normal cell-types makes it a potential tool for cancer treatment. However, the mechanism of action of apoptin is not completely understood, nor are the mechanisms of other Anelloviridae viruses that share similar sequence identities. In this study, we looked at two novel gyroviruses, GyV9 and Tu789. We focused on their VP3 regions, which show sequence homology to apoptin. In silico analyses suggested high conservation of nuclear export sequences between the three viral proteins. In vitro analyses demonstrated a high degree of nuclear localization for Tu789, and a low degree of nuclear localization for GyV9. Further research is needed to draw conclusions about the relation between these proteins’ onco-selectivity and localization.

This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

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