Associate Professor
![Assistant Professor Mandy Muller](http://marlin.micro.umass.edu/sites/default/files/styles/faculty_photo/public/faculty-photos/mandy-picture2.jpg?itok=33c_pf5G)
Phone:
413-545-6693
Fax:
413-545-1578
Email:
Office:
412 Morrill Science Center IVN
Ph.D.:
Virology, Pasteur Institute, 2013
Mailing address:
Mandy Muller, Ph.D.
Department of Microbiology
418 Morrill Science Center IVN
639 North Pleasant Street
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA 01003
Research Interests
Viruses reshape the intracellular environment during infection, both to hijack processes necessary for viral amplification and to subvert antiviral defenses. Because of size constraints and competition with their hosts for resources, they have developed ingenious ways to benefit from the host gene expression machinery. As such, viruses are excellent tool to understand cell biology. Herpesviruses are a particularly good example of such successful balance as herpesvirus infections are life-long and cannot be cleared by the host. We focus on the Gamma-herpesviruses and in particular, KSHV (Kaposi Sarcoma Associated Herpesvirus). We are especially interested in understanding how these viruses induce major changes in mRNA stability during infection, as well as how the host cell reacts to the viral takeover.
Selected Publications
Nuclease escape elements protect messenger RNA against cleavage by multiple viral endonucleases. PLOS Pathogens. 13:e1006593. .
2017.
A Ribonucleoprotein Complex Protects the Interleukin-6 mRNA from Degradation by Distinct Herpesviral Endonucleases. PLOS Pathogens. 11:e1004899. .
2015.
A Comparative Approach to Characterize the Landscape of Host-Pathogen Protein-Protein Interactions. Journal of Visualized Experiments. .
2013.
The {HPV} E2-Host Protein-Protein Interactions: A Complex Hijacking of the Cellular Network. The Open Virology Journal. 6:173–189. .
2012.
Large Scale Genotype Comparison of Human Papillomavirus E2-Host Interaction Networks Provides New Insights for E2 Molecular Functions. {PLoS} Pathogens. 8:e1002761. .
2012.
Benchmarking a luciferase complementation assay for detecting protein complexes. Nature Methods. 8:990–992. .
2011.
Research interests - short:
Herpesviruses, Viral-Host Interplay, RNA Biology
Department of Microbiology