Van G. Wilson, Ph.D
Professor
Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies
Department of Microbial & Molecular Pathogenesis
407 Reynolds Medical Building
College Station,
TX 77843
Phone: (979) 845-5207
Fax: (979) 845-3479
Email: wilson@medicine.tamhsc.edu
Education and Post-Graduate Training
B.S. Georgia Institute of Technology (1975)
Ph.D. Case Western Reserve University (1980)
Postdoc. State University of New York (1980-83)
Research Interests
My area of specialization is the molecular biology of papovaviruses, with a primary focus on how viral proteins modify the host cell environment. Recently, we determined that the viral replication proteins, E1 and E2, are post-translationally modified by addition of 1 or more SUMO moieties. Sumoylation is a widespread modification whose biological functions are only recently becoming understood. Studies are in progress to 1) determine the role of sumoylation in the viral life cycle, 2) evaluate the effect of sumoylation on the structure and activity of the E1 helicase, 3) understand the mechanism by which sumoylation influences E2 stability and transcriptional activity, and 4) determine how sumoylation is modulated by the viral E6 oncoprotein. In addition to the role of sumoylation in the viral life cycle, we are also exploring how sumoylation participates in normal keratinocyte differentiation. We have developed a keratinocyte cell line inducibly expressing a tagged SUMO moiety to facilitate proteomics studies of sumoylation changes and regulation during controlled differentiation.
Selected Publications
Rosas-Acosta, G. and V.G. Wilson. 2008. Identification of a nuclear export signal sequence for bovine papillomavirus E1 protein. Virology 373:149-162. PMID: 18201744
Wilson, V.G. and P. Heaton. 2008. The Ubiquitin Proteolytic System - A Focus on SUMO. Expert Review of Proteomics 5:121-135. PMID: 18282128
Wu, Y.-C., Roark, A.A., Bian, X.-L., and V.G. Wilson. 2008. Modification of papillomavirus E2 proteins by the small ubiquitin-like modifier family members (SUMOs). Virology 379:329-338. PMID: 18619639
Schmidt, C., Kim, D., Ippolito, G.C., Naqvi, H.R., Probst, L., Mathur, S., Rosas-Acosta, G., Wilson, V.G., Oldham, A.L., Poenie, M., Webb, C.F., and P.W. Tucker. 2009. Signaling of the BCR is regulated by a lipid rafts-localized transcription factor, Bright. EMBO J. 28:711-724. PMID: 19214191
Wu, Y.-C., Bian, X.-L., Heaton, P.R., and V.G. Wilson. 2009. Host Sumoylation Level Influences Papillomavirus E2 Protein Stability. Virology 387:176-183. Chosen by Faculty of 1000. PMID: 19251296
Nanos-Webb, A., Deyrieux, A., Bian, X.-L., Rosas-Acosta, G. and V.G. Wilson. 2010. Cloning the Human SUMO1 Promoter. Molecular Biology Reports 37:1155-1163.. PMID: 19242820
Bian, X.-L. and V.G. Wilson. 2010. Common Importin Alpha Specificity for Papillomavirus E2 Proteins. Virus Research doi:10.1016/j.virusres.2010.02.011. PMID: 20193720
