Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology July

Issue #6/Summer 2017

The UF College of Medicine recently announced five faculty members that have been appointed to UF Research Foundation (UFRF) Professorships for 2017. These awards, given to tenured faculty who have a distinguished record of research, aim to recognize professors for their recent contributions and provide incentives for continued excellence in research.

The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology is pleased to congratulate Dr. Suming Huang, Professor, in receiving this distinguished honor!

The primary selection criteria includes the professor’s performance in the past five years and evidence of a strong research agenda that is likely to lead to continuing distinction in the professor’s field.

At the conclusion of the three-year UFRF Professorship term, the recipients will provide a short report to the Vice President for Research reviewing their accomplishments during the period they held the award and their expectations for the future.

The four additional recipients of this award are –

Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology

Stephanie M. Karst, Ph.D. | Associate Professor

Department of Pediatrics

Barry J. Byrne, M.D., Ph.D. | Professor

Michael J. Haller, M.D. | Professor

Desmond A. Schatz, M.D. | Professor

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STUDENT NEWS AND AWARDS

Bronze Award:

Rosha Poudyal | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Mentor: Michael Kladde, PhD

The Epigenomes of Latent and Lytic Kaposi’s Sarcoma-

Associated Herpesvirus

Council of Academic Chairs Scholarship Recipient:

Carrie Lomelino | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Mentor: Robert McKenna, PhD

Advancement to Candidacy Award Recipients Avni Bhatt | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Mentor: Robert McKenna, PhD

Carrie Lomelino | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Mentor: Robert McKenna, PhD

Kristen Solocinski, Ph.D. Graduate Student, was selected to

receive an American Physiological Society (APS) Caroline tum Suden/

Frances Hellebrandt Professional Opportunity Award and presented

her research at the 2017 Experimental Biology meeting in Chicago,

April 22-26. Her abstract was entitled, “Sex-Dependent Regulation of

Blood Pressure by the Circadian Clock Protein Per1." Solocinski,

conducting her research in Dr. Michelle Gumz's laboratory, was

among 36 men and women selected from over

100 applicants. This award, which carries a $500

prize, is a tribute to the role of Dr. Caroline tum

Suden and Dr. Hellebrandt's commitment to

physiological research and the advancement of

women in science.

Pictured to the right are Kristen Solocinski,

Doctoral Graduate Student, and Lauren Douma,

Ph.D., former biochemistry graduate student,

presenting their poster at this year's Experimental

Biology meeting.

AVNI BHATT

ROSHA POUDYAL

CARRIE LOMELINO

KRISTEN SOLOCINSKI

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Structure-guided evolution of antigenically

distinct adeno-associated virus variants for

immune evasion

Longping Victor Tsea , Kelli A. Klinca , Victoria J. Madiganaa,b, Ruth M. Castellanos Riveraa,

Lindsey F. Wellsa, L. Patrick Havlika,b, J. Kennon Smithc,d, Mavis Agbandje-McKennac,d, and

Aravind Asokana,b,e,1

aGene Therapy Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599; bDepartment of

Genetics, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC; 27599; cDepartment of Biochemistry

and Molecular Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611; dCenter for Structural Biology, The McKnight

Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611; and eDepartment of Biochemistry and Biophysics,

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599

Journal: E4812–E4821 | PNAS | Published online May 30, 2017 Click here for full article.

Significance: Preexisting neutralizing

antibodies (NAbs) against adeno-associated

viruses (AAVs) pose a major, unresolved challenge

that restricts patient enrollment in gene therapy

clinical trials using recombinant AAV vectors.

Structural studies suggest that despite a high

degree of sequence variability, antibody

recognition sites or antigenic hotspots on AAVs and

other related parvoviruses might be evolutionarily

conserved. To test this hypothesis, we developed a

structure-guided evolution approach that does not

require selective pressure exerted by NAbs. This

strategy yielded highly divergent antigenic

footprints that do not exist in natural AAV isolates.

Specifically, synthetic variants obtained by evolving

murine antigenic epitopes on an AAV serotype 1

capsid template can evade NAbs without

compromising titer, transduction efficiency, or

tissue tropism. One lead AAV variant generated by

combining multiple evolved antigenic sites

effectively evades polyclonal anti-AAV1 neutralizing sera from immunized mice and rhesus

macaques. Furthermore, this variant displays robust immune evasion in nonhuman primate and

human serum samples at dilution factors as high as 1:5, currently mandated by several clinical

trials. Our results provide evidence that antibody recognition of AAV capsids is conserved across

species. This approach can be applied to any AAV strain to evade NAbs in prospective patients for

human gene therapy. For more information see UF Health website.

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NO SESSIONS UNTIL FALL 2017 SEMESTER

Brittany Rife Magalis Friday, 7/21, 2:00pm Topic: Evolutionary Dynamics and Phyloanatomy of Intra-host HIV/SIV Subpopulations During Disease Progression Location: ARB R3-265

BMB JOURNAL CLUB/BCH 6936 EPIGENETICS JOURNAL CLUB/GMS 6195 STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY JOURNAL CLUB/BCH 6875

CENTER FOR STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY SEMINAR SERIES CENTER FOR EPIGENETICS BMB FACULTY RESEARCH DISCUSSIONS

There will be no departmental seminars during the remainder of Summer 2017

semester. Fall 2017 sessions will be announced early in the semester.

Three alumni of the UF Department of

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology were

recently reunited in Chicago at the FASEB

(Federation of American Societies for

Experimental Biology) meeting. From left to

right, (1) Michelle Gumz, Ph.D.,

Department of Medicine/Nephrology, BMB

Department/2004 graduate of the Dr. Brian

Cain lab, (2) Fangliang Zhang, Ph.D.,

Assistant Professor of Pharmacology/

University of Miami, BMB Department/2005

graduate of the Dr. Dan Purich lab, (3)

Debbie Zies, Ph.D., Associate P rofessor

of Biology at the University of Mary

Washington, BMB Department/2003

graduate of the Dr. Brian Cain lab.

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