NCKU Medical Research on Herpes Simplex Virus Raised Attention
Michelle, press center
19, September
The research team concentrated on the study related to the Herpes simplex virus Type 1 (HSV-1), led by Professor Shun-Hua Chen of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), unveiled their research achievement and discovery in the press conference on Thursday, September 19th at the Lecture Hall of the NCKU Medical College. Her article, entitled “Suppression of transcription factor early growth response 1 reduces herpes simplex virus lethality in mice”, is also about to be published on the Journal of Clinical Investigation in the coming October. This monthly journal has a leading position in biomedicine and clinic field with many original and pioneering articles. Still, only little articles authored by domestic researchers can be found in this journal.
According to Professor Shun-Hua Chen, Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infects about 80% of young adults worldwide and induces encephalitis. HSV-1 induced encephalitis is the most devastating consequence of all HSV infections and also the most common cause of sporadic fatal encephalitis, with an incidence of one in 200,000 individuals per year. The mortality rate of untreated patients is over 70%, and only 2.5% of all patients could return back with normal neurological function. Once the virus enters cells, it interacts with some cellular factors to increase viral replication and, hence, mortality in infected hosts. Identifying these cellular factors is essential for gaining a better understanding of HSV-1 pathogenesis and should provide cellular targets for developing alternative strategies to prevent hosts from severe damage and mortality. However, only little is known about these cellular factors and their mechanisms.
The medical research team, led by Professor Shun-Hua Chen, has made tremendous progression in search for cellular factors interacting with HSV-1 to regulate viral infection. They found that transcription factor Egr-1 was induced after infection by HSV-1. Their results showed that Egr-1 increased viral replication in infected cells and mouse tissues as well as mortality in infected mice. Furthermore, knockdown of Egr-1 expression reduced the mortality of infected mice by decreasing viral loads in tissues.
About Journal of Clinical Investigation
The Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI or J Clin Invest) is a leading biomedical journal, with an impact factor of 16.951 (SCI 2007). The journal makes its contents -- including access to articles back to 1924 -- freely available online.
The website of the journal describes it as “a premier venue for critical advances in biomedical research, authoritative reviews, and commentaries that place research articles in context.” The first issue of the journal appeared in 1924, and within a few decades, it had established itself as a reputed journal for primary clinical research.
The JCI's Editorial Board is unique, in which its members are located chiefly at a singular academic medical center and are predominantly members of the American Society for Clinical Investigation. The leadership of the Editorial Board changes every five years: As of March 2007, the Editorial Board is located at the University of Pennsylvania under the leadership of Laurence A. Turka, M.D. From March 2002 to March 2007, the Editorial Board was located at Columbia University under the leadership of Andrew Marks, M.D. Ushma S. Neill, formerly with Nature Medicine, is the journal's Executive Editor.
This monthly journal publishes much original research, and one review article per issue, often ranked in par with the sophisticated and widely-cited reviews found in Physiological Reviews. A series of review articles (under the term "Review Series") focusing on an important biomedical topic is also regularly published, which has proved to be a positive addition to the journal's reputation.
About Egr-1
Early growth response 1 (Egr-1), also known as NGFI-A, Zif268, TIS-8, Z225, and Krox-24, is a zinc finger transcription factor constitutively expressed, particularly in neural tissues, and can also be induced upon stress.
19, September
The research team concentrated on the study related to the Herpes simplex virus Type 1 (HSV-1), led by Professor Shun-Hua Chen of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), unveiled their research achievement and discovery in the press conference on Thursday, September 19th at the Lecture Hall of the NCKU Medical College. Her article, entitled “Suppression of transcription factor early growth response 1 reduces herpes simplex virus lethality in mice”, is also about to be published on the Journal of Clinical Investigation in the coming October. This monthly journal has a leading position in biomedicine and clinic field with many original and pioneering articles. Still, only little articles authored by domestic researchers can be found in this journal.
According to Professor Shun-Hua Chen, Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infects about 80% of young adults worldwide and induces encephalitis. HSV-1 induced encephalitis is the most devastating consequence of all HSV infections and also the most common cause of sporadic fatal encephalitis, with an incidence of one in 200,000 individuals per year. The mortality rate of untreated patients is over 70%, and only 2.5% of all patients could return back with normal neurological function. Once the virus enters cells, it interacts with some cellular factors to increase viral replication and, hence, mortality in infected hosts. Identifying these cellular factors is essential for gaining a better understanding of HSV-1 pathogenesis and should provide cellular targets for developing alternative strategies to prevent hosts from severe damage and mortality. However, only little is known about these cellular factors and their mechanisms.
The medical research team, led by Professor Shun-Hua Chen, has made tremendous progression in search for cellular factors interacting with HSV-1 to regulate viral infection. They found that transcription factor Egr-1 was induced after infection by HSV-1. Their results showed that Egr-1 increased viral replication in infected cells and mouse tissues as well as mortality in infected mice. Furthermore, knockdown of Egr-1 expression reduced the mortality of infected mice by decreasing viral loads in tissues.
About Journal of Clinical Investigation
The Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI or J Clin Invest) is a leading biomedical journal, with an impact factor of 16.951 (SCI 2007). The journal makes its contents -- including access to articles back to 1924 -- freely available online.
The website of the journal describes it as “a premier venue for critical advances in biomedical research, authoritative reviews, and commentaries that place research articles in context.” The first issue of the journal appeared in 1924, and within a few decades, it had established itself as a reputed journal for primary clinical research.
The JCI's Editorial Board is unique, in which its members are located chiefly at a singular academic medical center and are predominantly members of the American Society for Clinical Investigation. The leadership of the Editorial Board changes every five years: As of March 2007, the Editorial Board is located at the University of Pennsylvania under the leadership of Laurence A. Turka, M.D. From March 2002 to March 2007, the Editorial Board was located at Columbia University under the leadership of Andrew Marks, M.D. Ushma S. Neill, formerly with Nature Medicine, is the journal's Executive Editor.
This monthly journal publishes much original research, and one review article per issue, often ranked in par with the sophisticated and widely-cited reviews found in Physiological Reviews. A series of review articles (under the term "Review Series") focusing on an important biomedical topic is also regularly published, which has proved to be a positive addition to the journal's reputation.
About Egr-1
Early growth response 1 (Egr-1), also known as NGFI-A, Zif268, TIS-8, Z225, and Krox-24, is a zinc finger transcription factor constitutively expressed, particularly in neural tissues, and can also be induced upon stress.
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