Edward Stephens, PhD

Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology

PhD:1981, University of Maryland
Postdoctoral: University of Alabama at Birmingham

email: estephen@kumc.edu

Research interests include molecular aspects of HIV-1 pathogenesis using the chimeric simian-human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV)/ macaque model system with specific interests in:

1. molecular mechanisms through which the Vpu protein of HIV-1 contributes the pathogenesis of the virus;
2. molecular mechanisms of how HIV-1 and SHIV cause neurological and renal disease.
3. host gene regulation following neuroinvasion by primate lentiviruses.

Recent Publications

1. Hout, D.R, Melissa Gomez, Pacyniak, E., Ellyn Mulcahy, Lisa Gomez, Mollie Jackson, Melissa Flick, McCormick, C., Wisdom, B.J., Culley, N., Pinson, D.M., Powers, M., Wong, S.W., and Stephens, E.B. 2004. Fusion of the upstream vpu sequences to the env of simian human immunodeficiency virus (SHIVKU-1bMC33) results in the synthesis of two envelope precursor proteins, altered maturation with increased numbers of virus particles associated with the cell surface and is highly pathogenic for pig-tailed macaques. Virology 323: 91-107.
2. Hout, D.R., Mulcahy, E.R., Pacyniak, E., Gomez, L.M., Gomez, M., and Stephens, E.B. 2004. Vpu: A Multifunctional Protein that Enhances the Pathogenesis of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1. Current HIV-1 Research, 3:255-271.
3. Gomez, L.M., Pacyniak, E., Mulcahy, E.R., Flick, M., Gomez, M., Nerrient, E., Ayouda, A., Santiago, M., Hahn, B., and Stephens, E.B. 2005. Vpu Mediated CD4 Down-Regulation and Degradation is Conserved Among Highly Divergent SIVcpz Strains. Virology 335: 46-60.
4. Pacyniak, E., Gomez, M., Gomez, L., Mulcahy, E., Jackson, M., Flick, M., Hout, D.R, and Stephens, E.B. 2005. Identification of a region within the cytoplasmic domain of the subtype B Vpu protein of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) that responsible for retention in the Golgi complex and its absence in subtype C Vpu proteins. AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses 21: 379-394.
5. Hout, D.R., Gomez, M., Pacynaik, E., Gomez, L., Mulchay, E.R., Culley, N., Pinson, D.M., Powers, M., Wong, S.W. and Stephens, E.B. 2005. Scrambling of the amino acids within the transmembrane domain of Vpu results in simian-human immunodeficiency virus (SHIVTM) that is less pathogenic for pig-tailed macaques. Virology (In press).
6. Hout, D.R., Gomez, M., Pacynaik, E., Gomez, L., Culley, N., Pinson, D.M., Powers, M., Wong, S.W. and Stephens, E.B. 2005. Substitution of the transmembrane domain of Vpu in simian-human immunodeficiency virus (SHIVKU1bMC33) with that of M2 of influenza A results in a virus that is sensitive to rimantadine and is pathogenic for pig-tailed macaques. Virology (In press).
   

Back Row: Eric Pacyniak (Res. Associate), Ed Stephens (PI), Dave Hout (Graduate Student) Front Row: Lisa Gomez (Res. Associate), Jean-Marie Miller (Res. Assisstant), Sarah Inbody (Res. Assistant), Francesca Thompson (summer student)