Assistant Professor
Department of Microbial and Molecular Pathogenesis

Fax: 979-862-7226
Email: VSanchez@medicine.tamhsc.edu

Education

B.S. Biology, 1990. University of Texas at Austin
Ph.D. Microbiology, 1998. University of Alabama, Birmingham
Post-doctoral training, 1998-2002, University of California, San Diego
Assistant Project Scientist, 2002-2007, University of California, San Diego

Research Interests

Assembly and trafficking of human cytomegalovirus particles: I am particularly interested in the interactions between the virus and the host cell that facilitate nuclear egress of immature particles and their targeting to the site of envelopment.

Selected Publications

Sanchez, V. and Spector, D.H.: Subversion of Cell Cycle Regulatory Pathways. In Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology: Cytomegalovirus (M. Stinski and T. Shenk, eds.). In press.

Sanchez, V., Mahr, J.A., Orazio, N., and Spector, D.H.: Nuclear export of the human cytomegalovirus tegument protein pp65 requires cyclin-dependent kinase activity and the Crm-1 exporter. Journal of Virology, in press, 2007.

Sanchez, V. and Spector, D.H.: Cyclin-dependent kinase activity is required for efficient expression and post-translation modification of human cytomegalovirus virion proteins and for production of extracellular particles. Journal of Virology 80(12) 5886-5896, 2006.

Sanchez, V. and Spector, D.H.: Exploitation of host cell cycle regulatory pathways by HCMV. Chapter 11 In Cytomegaloviruses: Molecular Biology and Immunology (M.J. Reddehase, ed.). Horizon Scientific Press, Hethersett, Norwich, U.K., 2005.

Sanchez, V., McElroy, A.K., Yen, J., Tamrakar, S., Clark, C.L., Schwartz, R.A., and Spector , D.H.: Cyclin-dependent kinase activity is required at early times for accurate processing and accumulation of the human cytomegalovirus UL122-123 and UL37 immediate-early transcripts and at later times for virus production. Journal of Virology 78(20):11219-11232, 2004.

White, E.A., Clark, C.L., Sanchez, V., and Spector, D.H.: Small internal deletion in the human cytomegalovirus IE2 gene result in non-viable recombinant viruses with differential defects in viral gene expression. Journal of Virology 78(4):1817-1830, 2004.

Sanchez, V., McElroy, A.K., and Spector, D.H.: Multiple pathways contribute to the activation of the cdc2/cycB kinase in cells infected with human cytomegalovirus. Journal of Virology 77(24):13214-13224, 2003.

Biswas, N., Sanchez, V., and Spector, D.H.: Human cytomegalovirus infection leads to accumulation of geminin and inhibition of the licensing of cellular origins of DNA replication. Journal of Virology 77(4):2369-2376, 2003.

Sanchez, V. and Spector, D.H.: CMV makes a timely exit. Science 297:778-779, 2002.

Fortunato, E.A., Sanchez, V., Yen, J.Y., and Spector, D.H.: Infection of cells with human cytomegalovirus during S phase results in a blockade to immediate-early gene expression that can be overcome by inhibition of the proteasome. Journal of Virology; 76(11):5369-5379, 2002.

Sanchez, V., Clark, C.L., Yen, J.Y., Dwarakanath, R., and Spector, D.H.: A viable human cytomegalovirus recombinant virus with an internal deletion of the IE2 86 gene affects late stages of viral replication. Journal of Virology 76(6):2973-2989, 2002.

Sanchez, V., Sztul, E., Britt, W.J.: Human cytomegalovirus pp28 (UL99) localizes to a cytoplasmic compartment which overlaps the endoplasmic reticulum-Golgi-intermediate compartment. Journal of Virology 74(8):3842-3851, 2000.

Fortunato, E.A., McElroy, A.K., Sanchez, V., Spector, D.H.: Exploitation of cellular signaling and regulatory pathways by human cytomegalovirus. Trends in Microbiology 8(3):111-119, 2000.

Sanchez, V., Greis, K., Sztul, E., Britt, W.J.: Accumulation of virion tegument and envelope proteins in a stable cytoplasmic compartment during human cytomegalovirus replication: characterization of a potential site of virus assembly. Journal of Virology 74(2):975-986, 2000.

Sanchez, V., Angeletti, P.C., Engler, J.A., Britt, W.J.: Localization of human cytomegalovirus structural proteins to the nuclear matrix of infected human fibroblasts. Journal of Virology 72(4):3321-3329, 1998.