Abstract:

Viruses are fascinating little creatures but they can be dangerous too like we witnessed during the recent COVID19 pandemic. My research group is actively engaged in understanding how Epstein-Barr virus causes cancer. Specifically, we investigate how this common virus can compromise our immune system. In our latest research, we found that one of the viral proteins, by reducing the quantity of a T cell costimulatory protein called ICOSL on lymphoma cells, makes cancer cells invisible to the immune system. We found that the viral protein EBNA2 increases a small noncoding RNA called miR-24 which directly reduces ICOSL. Our results now underline the importance of reducing miR-24 to make the cells once again visible to the immune system and kill lymphoma cells. Our ultimate aim is to use small RNA molecules to aid cancer immunotherapy.