Thomas M. Gallagher, Ph.D.
Professor

Ph.D. University of Wisconsin

Virologist

Molecular Mechanisms of Virus Assembly and Entry

Viruses are extraordinary macromolecular complexes.  Exquisitely orchestrated interactions between virus-encoded proteins and nucleic acids guide the assembly process.  We are interested in virus assembly within infected cells.  We use coronaviruses as models to identify the cellular requirements for assembly and secretion of viruses into the environment. 

Viruses are extraordinary extracellular organelles.  They must possess sufficient stability to protect their nucleic acid cargo while maintaining the capacity to unload cargo into uninfected cells at the appropriate time and place.  We are interested in the process by which viruses are triggered to come apart and deliver their genomes into susceptible cells.  We use coronaviruses as models in probing how virus interactions with cellular receptors trigger the structural transitions that initiate new infections.

Viruses are extraordinary agents of serious, epidemic human diseases.  The recent outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) was caused by an animal coronavirus invading the human population.  We are interested in determining how coronaviruses change from animal- to human-specific infectious agents.  We are also currently focused on determining how the SARS coronavirus creates extreme pathogenicity.  Our research with SARS coronavirus has uncovered virus-encoded proteins with novel functions that may account for the extreme virulence of this zoonotic infection.

Selected Publications

Hussain, S., Perlman, S., and Gallagher, T. (2008) Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus protein 6 accelerates MHV infections by more than one mechanism. J. Virol., 2008 Apr 30 [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 18448520

Boscarino, J. A., Logan, H. L., Lacny, J. J., and Gallagher, T. M. (2008) Envelope protein palmitoylations are crucial for murine coronavirus assembly. J. Virol. 82: 2989-2999.

Netland, J. Ferraro, D., Pewe, L., Olivares, H., Gallagher, T. and Perlman, S. (2007) Enhancement of murine coronavirus replication by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus protein 6 requires the N-terminal hydrophobic region but not C-terminal sorting motifs. J. Virol. 81: 11520-11525.

Tangudu, C., Olivares, H., Netland, J., Perlman, S., and Gallagher, T. (2007) Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus protein 6 accelerates murine coronavirus infections. J. Virol., 81: 1220-1229.

Boscarino, J. A., Goletz, J. M., and Gallagher, T.M. (2006). Virion - liposome interactions identify a cholesterol - independent coronavirus entry stage. Adv. Expt. Med. Biol. 581:305-308.

Thorp, E. B., Boscarino, J. A., Logan, H. L., Goletz, J. T., and Gallagher, T. M.: (2006) Palmitoylations on coronavirus spike proteins are essential for virion assembly and infectivity.  J. Virol., 80: 1280-1289.

Pewe, L., Zhou, H., Netland, J. Tangudu, C., Olivares, H., Shi, L., Look, D., Gallagher, T. M., and Perlman, S. (2005)  A SARS-CoV specific protein enhances virulence of an attenuated murine coronavirus.  J. Virol., 79: 11335-11342. 

Thorp, E. B., and Gallagher, T. M. (2005) Diversity of coronavirus spikes: relationship to pathogen entry and dissemination. In: Viral membrane proteins: structure, function and drug design. Wolfgang B. Fischer, ed. Kluwer Academic. Plenum Publishers, New York.

Search PubMed for a complete listing of Thomas Gallagher's publications

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