Award
NIH Reporter #7F30AI157182-04
Mechanism and Therapeutic Implication of Host Cell Telomerase Modulation by Human Cytomegalovirus
Recipient
Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences
Award Amount
$54,538.00
Ceiling
$54,538.00
Awarded
April 04, 2025
Identifier
7F30AI157182-04
This award funds research on the role of host cell telomerase in Human Cytomegalovirus infection, aiming to understand its mechanism and therapeutic implications to guide antiviral therapy development.
Description
The study investigates the role of host enzyme telomerase in HCMV infection, aiming to understand its mechanism and therapeutic potential. It hypothesizes that host telomerase is important for the HCMV viral life cycle and will test telomerase activity upregulation upon HCMV infection and reduced HCMV replication following telomerase inhibition using pharmaceutical and genetic inhibitors. Mechanistic studies will assess telomerase activity following expression and knockdown of viral genes and binding assays to establish the clinical relevance of telomerase in HCMV infection and inform potential antiviral therapies.