Mavis Agbandje-McKenna, Ph.D.
Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
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Mavis Agbandje-McKenna, Ph.D. |
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Structural studies of ssDNA viruses towards functional annotation My research is aimed at using a multi disciplinary approach (structural biology tools - namely X ray crystallography and cryo electron microscopy combined with biochemistry, biophysics, molecular genetics, and virological methods) to examine events that occur during viral infection. Our viral models are the ssDNA viruses including the Microviridae, Geminiviridae and Parvoviridae, which infect bacteria, plants, and invertebrates and vertebrates, respectively. The aim is to elucidate the role(s) of the three-dimensional structures of viral capsids and capsid proteins in the dynamic array of biological processes occurring in the viral life cycle, from the initial stages of host infection, such as receptor and co-receptor recognition and endosomal trafficking, to the delivery of genetic material into host cell, capsid assembly, and encapsidation of genomic DNA in viral progeny. We are also interested in identifying viral capsid regions that govern their interactions with antibodies, including the mechanisms of viral neutralization and adaptations for evasion of host immune surveillance and antibody enhancement of viral infection. The goal is to elucidate essential structural information that can be applied to the development of treatments of viral diseases in the form of viral capsid assembly disruptors, viral vaccines, foreign antigen delivery vehicles and gene delivery vectors.
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Status: Possibly Accepting New Students This Year Contact Information: office: McKnight Brain Institute, LG-181 lab: McKnight Brain Institute, LG-171 phone: (352) 392-5696 email: mckenna@ufl.edu Home Page Biography: Mavis Agbandje-McKenna received her Ph.D. in Biophysics at the University of London in 1989 under the direction of Prof. Stephen Neidle for work on the biophysical characterization of a novel group of DNA-intercalating anthraquinone anti-tumor agents. In 1989, she became a postdoctoral research assistant in the Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, Indiana, where she carried out research on structure to function correlation for the ssDNA Parvoviridae. In 1995, she joined the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Warwick, England, UK, as an independent research fellow, where her research on structure-function analysis of ssDNA viruses expanded to include the ssDNA Geminiviridae and Microviridae. Dr. Agbandje-McKenna joined the Faculty at the University of Florida in 1999. In 2007 she was appointed director of the Center for Structural Biology in the College of Medicine. |
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