Research Interests:

1. Varicella-zoster virus. VZV is the virus that causes chickenpox in children and shingles in the elderly. We study the components of the virus. We use a variety of molecular biology techniques. We also use the newest imaging techniques, to determine the sites on the virus that interact with the cell. Of recent interest, we have discovered the first mutant strain of varicella-zoster ever found anywhere in the world.
2. Human herpes virus type 8. HHV-8 causes Kaposi sarcoma in AIDS patients. However, 3 to 5% of otherwise healthy people in the United States are infected with this virus. It is not known how this virus is transmitted from person to person. We are currently studying neonates in Iowa to determine if the virus is transmitted at time of delivery or shortly thereafter.

Lab Members:

• Lucie Maresova, PhD
• Minako Oda, PhD
• John Storlie, BS
• Wallen Jackson, BS
• Victor Estrada

Grose Lab Website

Affiliations:

• Department of Pediatrics
• Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases
• Iowa Biosciences Advantage program for minority students.

Our research is carried out in collaboration with groups at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, MB, Canada; Stanford University, California, and University of Buffalo, New York.

Model System:

Cell culture models of virus infection and virus transfection with individual genes.. Studies on human volunteers, including newborns.

Recent Publications:

1. Kenyon, T.K., Cohen, J. I., Grose, C.: Phosphorylation by the Varicella-zoster virus ORF47 protein serine kinase determines whether endocytosed viral gE traffics to the trans-Golgi network or recycles to the cell membrane. Journal of Virology 76:10980-93, 2002.
2. Tipples, G.A., Stephens, G.W., Sherlock, C., Bowler, M., Hoy, B., Cook, D., Grose, C.: A new variant of Varicella-zoster virus. Emerging Infectious Diseases; 8:1504-5, 2002.
3. Mo, C., Lee, J., Sommer, M., Grose, C., Arvin, A.M. The requirement of varicella-zoster virus glycoprotein E (gE) for viral replication and effects of glycoprotein gI on gE in melanoma cells. Virology, 304:176-86, 2002.
4. Padilla, J.A., Nii, S., Grose, C.: Imaging of the Varicella-zoster virion in the viral highways: Comparison with herpes simplex viruses 1 and 2, cytomegalovirus, pseudorabies virus, and human herpes viruses 6 and 7. Journal of Medical Virology, 70 Supplement 1:S103-S10, 2003.
5. Kenyon, T.K., Homan, E., Storlie, J., Ikoma, M., Grose, C.: Comparison of Varicella-zoster virus ORF47 protein kinase and casein kinase II and their substrates. Journal of Medical Virology, 70 Supplement 1:S95-S102, 2003.
6. Maresova, L., Pasieka, T., Wagenaar, T., Jackson, W., Grose, C.: Identification of the authentic Varicella-zoster virus gB (gene 31) initiating methionine overlapping the 3’ end of gene 30. Journal of Medical Virology, 70 Supplement 1:S64-S70, 2003.
7. Wagenaar, T.R., Chow, V.T., Buranathai, C., Thawatsupha, P., Grose, C.: The out of Africa model of Varicella-zoster virus evolution: single nucleotide polymorphisms and private alleles distinguish Asian clades from European/North American clades. Vaccine, 21:1072-81, 2003.
8. Pasieka, T.J., Maresova, L., Grose, C.: A functional YNKI Motif in the Short cytoplasmic tail of varicella-zoster virus glycoprotein gH mediates clathrin-dependent and antibody-independent endocytosis. Journal of Virology 77:4191-204, 2003.
9. Cole, N.L., Grose, C.: Membrane fusion mediated by herpesvirus glycoproteins: the paradigm of varicella-zoster virus. Rev Med Virology 13:207-22, 2003
10. Pasieka, T.J., Woolson, R.F., Grose, C.: Viral induced fusion and syncytium formation: measurement by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistical test. Journal Virology Methods 111:157-61, 2003.
11. Wagenaar, T.R., Grose, C., Loparev, V.N., Schmid, D.S., Breuer, J.: Genomic analysis of varicella-zoster virus: primers for individual open reading frames. Journal Clinical Virology 28:104-10, 2003.
12. Pasieka, T.J., Maresova, L., Shiraki, K., Grose, C.: Regulation of varicella-zoster virus-induced cell-to-cell fusion by the endocytosis-competent glycoproteins gH and gE. J. Virol., 78:2884-96, 2004.
13. Grose, C.: The puzzling picture of acute necrotizing encephalpahty after influenz A and B virus infection in young children. Pediatr. Infect. Dis. J, 23:253-4, 2004 Review.
14. Duus, K.M., Lentchitsky, V., Wagenaar, T., Grose, C., Webster-Cyriaque, J.: Wild-type Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus isolated from the oropharynx of immune-competent individuals has tropism for cultured oral epithelial cells. J. Virol. 78:4074-84, 2004.
15. Grose, C., Tyler S., Peters, G., Hiebert, J., Stephens, G.M., Ruyechan, W.T., Jackson, W., Storlie, J., Tipples, G.A.: Complete DNA sequence analyses of the first two varicella-zoster virus glycoprotein E (D150N) mutant viruses found in North America: evolution of genotypes with an accelerated cell spread phenotype. J. Virol., 78:6700-807, 2004.
16. Gerday, E., Grose, C.: Demographic differences in congenital cytomegalovirus infection in the United States. J. Pediatrics, 2004 (in press).