Students

Sungyong Won

Major: Virology
Joined program in 2004

Mentor: Dr. Shinji Makino

Publications/Experience:

1. Won, S., T. Ikegami, C. J. Peters, and S. Makino. 2006. Rift Valley fever virus proteins NSm and 78-kDa nonessential in cell culture. J. Virol. In press.
2. Ikegami, T., S. Won., C.J. Peters, and S. Makino. 2006. Rescue of infectious Rift Valley fever virus entirely from cDNA, analysis of virus lacking NSs gene, and expression of a foreign gene. J. Virol. 80: 2933-40.
3. Ikegami, T., S. Won., C.J. Peters, and S. Makino. 2005. Rift Valley fever virus NSs mRNA is transcribed from an incoming anti-viral-sense S RNA segment. J. Virol. 79: 12106-12111

Research Description: I am studying on Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV), which is a prototypic virus of the genus Phlebovirus, family Bunyaviridae. Recently, I have generated and characterized several mutant viruses lacking one or more viral proteins (78-kDa and NSm), using a reverse genetics system of RVFV developed by our group. My studies have shown that the NSm and 78-kDa proteins of RVFV were not essential for its replication. It may suggest the possibility that any involvement these two accessory proteins have in RVFV pathogenesis is something other than virus replication itself. Therefore, I am trying to identify the functions of these uncharacterized proteins, the 78-kDa and NSm, in cell culture and in mice using several mutant viruses I have generated.

Hometown: Seoul, Republic of Korea
Education: B.S. & M. S., Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea
Contact:  suwon@utmb.edu or biophil71@hotmail.com

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