Description
- Abstract:
- JC Polyomavirus (JCPyV) is a human pathogen which in immunocompromised individuals causes progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a fatal central nervous system disease. All three variants of serotonin subtype 2 receptors (5-HT2Rs) are important for JCPyV infection of glial cells, but little is known about how the receptors and virus interact. This study generated inducible lentiviral vectors expressing the 5-HT2R proteins linked to C-terminal (intracellular) fluorescent protein tags, which provided a platform for specific tracking of receptor location. Stable cell lines containing 5-HT2AR-BFP, 5-HT2BR-mCherry and/or 5HT2CR-EGFP were evaluated for receptor functionality and used to begin exploring how JCPyV interacts with 5-HT2Rs during entry into host cells. Two of the three modified receptors were expressed evenly over the cell membrane and responded to addition of receptor ligand as expected, suggesting that the protein tag did not generally alter receptor functionality. Confocal microscopy was used to evaluate potential heterodimerization between JCPyV and modified 5-HT2R subtypes, but additional data is needed to determine whether the results are significant. Elucidating the role of 5-HT2Rs in JCPyV infection through these cells may lead to the identification of drug targets or therapies to treat or prevent PML.
- Notes:
- Senior thesis (ScB)--Brown University, 2019
- Concentration: Neuroscience
Access Conditions
- Rights
- In Copyright
- Restrictions on Use
- Collection is open for research.
Citation
Atkinson, Abigail,
"Use of Inducible, Selectable and Stable Fluorescent Protein-Tagged 5-HT2 Receptors in Elucidating JC Polyomavirus Cellular Entry and Trafficking"
(2019).
Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, and Biochemistry Theses and Dissertations.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://doi.org/10.26300/sqwm-fr86
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Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, and Biochemistry Theses and Dissertations
Theses and Dissertations for the Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, and Biochemistry department....