Joel Rovnak
Assistant Professor

Phone: 491-1395
Fax: 491-0603
Email: Joel.Rovnak@colostate.edu
Office: 313 Pathology Building
Lab: 317 Pathology Building

 

Degrees

• B.S. Microbiology/Chemistry, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 1982
• M.S. Microbiology/Cellular and Molecular Biology, Colorado State University, 1989
• PhD. Veterinary Medicine (Molecular Virology), New York State College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, 1999

Research Interests

• The primary intent of my research is the characterization of molecular mechanisms of oncogenesis, particularly where these mechanisms involve viral control of transcription and splicing. Current work is focused on functional analyses of an oncoprotein encoded by walleye dermal sarcoma virus (WDSV), and has lead directly to analyses of protein-protein interactions with cellular transcriptional coactivators in preinitiation complexes. This viral protein is able to differentially regulate host transcription through mechanisms in common with a number of viral oncogenes. Although this research is largely grounded in the current dermal sarcoma model, full investigation of the molecular mechanisms will extend beyond the scope of this virus to include the Tax proteins of bovine and human leukemia viruses, and DNA tumor virus proteins: SV40 Tumor antigens, adenovirus E1A/E1B, and papillomavirus E6/E7.

Selected Publications

Pub Med for Rovnak J.

• Cockerell, G.L., J. Rovnak, P.L. Green, and I.S.Y. Chen. A Deletion in the Proximal Untranslated pX Region of Human T-Cell Leukemia Virus Type II Decreases Viral Replication But Not Infectivity In Vivo. Blood 87:1030-1035, 1996.
• Rovnak, J., S.L. Quackenbush, R.A. Reyes, J.D. Baines, C.R. Parrish, and J.W. Casey. Detection of a Novel Bovine Lymphotropic Herpesvirus. Journal of Virology 72:4237-4242, 1998.
• Rovnak, J. and J.W. Casey. Assessment of Bovine Leukemia Virus Transcripts In Vivo. Journal of Virology 73:8890-8897, 1999.
• Rovnak, J., J.W. Casey, and S.L. Quackenbush. Intracellular Targeting of Walleye Dermal Sarcoma Virus Orf A (rv-cyclin). Virology 280;31-40, 2001.
• Rovnak, J. and S.L. Quackenbush. Walleye dermal sarcoma virus cyclin interacts with components of the Mediator complex and the RNA polymerase II holoenzyme. Journal of Virology 76:8031-8039, 2002
• Hronek, B, Meagher, A., Rovnak, J., and Quackenbush, SL. Identification and characterization of cis-acting elements residing in the walleye dermal sarcoma virus promoter. Journal of Virology 78:7590-7601, 2004.