Primary Appointment:
 Department of Medicine

GEBS Cluster Affiliations:
 Immunology, Microbiology, and Virology - IMV

University of Rochester
School of Medicine and Dentistry
601 Elmwood Ave, Box 704
Rochester, New York 14642

Phone: (585) 273-4474
E-Mail: vicente_planelles@urmc.rochester.edu

Molecular Pathogenesis and Gene Therapy for HIV-1

The research in my laboratory focuses on various aspects of the biology of the immunodeficiency virus and its interaction with the host cell.

HIV-induced cell cycle arrest: HIV causes cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in the infected cell. It is thought that this constitutes a major cause of cell death in vivo. We are conducting experiments to dissect the cellular signaling and effector pathways which mediate this cell cycle disruption. This will provide valuable information about viral pathogenesis and will also enrich our knowledge about cell cycle regulation in mammalian cells.

HIV-based gene therapy vectors: HIV has been utilized as the basis for the development of novel retroviral vector systems for gene transduction. Due to their broad tropism, HIV-based vectors offer promise in the context of metabolic diseases, cancer and viral infection. In addition, HIV-derived vectors are capable of transducing non-dividing cells, such as neurons and hematopoietic stem cells. Our current efforts are focused on the development of a safe and effective gene therapy vector for future use in humans.

Research Articles

Klimatcheva E, Planelles V, Day SL, Fulreader F, Renda MJ, Rosenblatt J. Defective lentiviral vectors are efficiently trafficked by HIV-1 and inhibit its replication. Mol Ther. 3:928-39, 2001.

Zhu Y, Gelbard HA, Roshal M, Pursell S, Jamieson BD, Planelles V. Comparison of cell cycle arrest, transactivation, and apoptosis induced by the simian immunodeficiency virus SIVagm and human immunodeficiency virus type 1 vpr genes. J Virol 75:3791-801, 2001.

Pandya S, Boris-Lawrie K, Leung NJ, Akkina R, Planelles V. Development of a Rev-Independent, Minimal Simian Immunodeficiency Virus-Derived Vector System. Hum. Gene Ther. 12: 847-857, 2001.

Wrzesinski S, Seguin R, Liu Y, Domville S, Planelles V, Massa P, Barker E, Antel J, Feuer G. HTLV type 1 tax transduction in microglial cells and astrocytes by lentiviral vectors. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses. 16:1771-6, 2000.

Toy EP, Rodriguez-Rodriguez L, McCance D, Ludlow J, Planelles V. Induction of cell-cycle arrest in cervical cancer cells by the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 viral protein R. Obstet Gynecol. 95:141-6, 2000.

Dreyer K, Kallas EG, Planelles V, Montefiori D, McDermott MP, Hasan MS, Evans TG. Primary isolate neutralization by HIV type 1-infected patient sera in the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses. 15:1563-71, 1999.

Shostak LD, Ludlow J, Fisk J, Pursell S, Rimel BJ, Nguyen D, Rosenblatt JD, Planelles V. Roles of p53 and caspases in the induction of cell cycle arrest and apoptosis by HIV-1 vpr. Exp Cell Res 251:156-65, 1999.

Kutubuddin M, Federoff HJ, Challita-Eid PM, Halterman M, Day B, Atkinson M, Planelles V, Rosenblatt JD. Eradication of pre-established lymphoma using herpes simplex virus amplicon vectors. Blood 93:643-54, 1999.

White SM, Renda MJ, Nam NN, Klimatcheva K, Zhu Y, Fisk J, Halterman M, Rimel BJ, Federoff HJ, Rosenblatt JD, Planelles V. Lentiviral vectors using human and simian immunodeficiency virus elements. J Virol 73:2832-2840, 1999.

Selected Reviews

Roshal M, Zhu Y, Planelles V. Apoptosis in AIDS. Apoptosis 6:103-16, 2001.

Klimatcheva E, Rosenblatt JD, Planelles V. Lentiviral vectors and gene therapy. Front Biosci 4:D481-96, 1999.