Sandra L Quackenbush

Associate Professor
Associate Department Head for Graduate Education

Research Interests

The research interests of the Quackenbush lab are in the area of viral pathogenesis, particularly viral-induced oncogenesis. Our current investigations are focused on a newly defined group of retroviruses from fish. These viruses and their associated neoplasias provide a model system of both oncogenesis and tumor regression. Of the piscine retroviruses, walleye dermal sarcoma virus (WDSV) is the best characterized. WDSV is a complex retrovirus that encodes three viral accessory/regulatory proteins and is the causative agent of walleye dermal sarcoma (WDS). These sarcomas develop and regress on a seasonal basis and are associated with significant differences in the expression of viral transcripts and presence of infectious virus. We are concentrating on determining the mechanisms with which the viral accessory/regulatory proteins control transcription, signal transduction, and apoptosis in mammalian and piscine cell culture systems.

Figure 1. Expression of WDSV accessory proteins in tumor explant cells