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Eva Henriette Gottwein is a virologist and Associate Professor of
Microbiology
Microbiology () is the scientific study of microorganisms, those being unicellular (single cell), multicellular (cell colony), or acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines including virology, bacteriology, prot ...
-Immunology
Immunology is a branch of medicineImmunology for Medical Students, Roderick Nairn, Matthew Helbert, Mosby, 2007 and biology that covers the medical study of immune systems in humans, animals, plants and sapient species. In such we can see there ...
at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois. The main focus of her research is the role of viral
Viral means "relating to viruses" (small infectious agents).
Viral may also refer to:
Viral behavior, or virality
Memetic behavior likened that of a virus, for example:
* Viral marketing, the use of existing social networks to spread a marke ...
miRNAs involved in herpesviral oncogenesis
Carcinogenesis, also called oncogenesis or tumorigenesis, is the formation of a cancer, whereby normal cells are transformed into cancer cells. The process is characterized by changes at the cellular, genetic, and epigenetic levels and abnor ...
. Gottwein is member of Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center
The Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University (Lurie Cancer Center), is a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center located on Northwestern Memorial Hospital's downtown medical campus in ...
of Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
Charte ...
. Her contributions as a member include the focus on how encoded miRNAs target and function in the human oncogenic herpesvirus Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus known as KSHV.
Education and career
Gottwein received her PhD in biology fromHeidelberg University
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Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...
in 2005.
During her postdoctoral work, Eva Gottwein studied herpesviral miRNA in Bryan Cullen's laboratory at Duke University
Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...
. Eva Gottwein currently is an associate professor of microbiology
Microbiology () is the scientific study of microorganisms, those being unicellular (single cell), multicellular (cell colony), or acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines including virology, bacteriology, prot ...
-immunology
Immunology is a branch of medicineImmunology for Medical Students, Roderick Nairn, Matthew Helbert, Mosby, 2007 and biology that covers the medical study of immune systems in humans, animals, plants and sapient species. In such we can see there ...
at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
Research contributions
The focus of her work involves identifying the function of microRNAs that are encoded in the human herpesvirus Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV). KSHV causes tumors by infectingendothelial
The endothelium is a single layer of squamous endothelial cells that line the interior surface of blood vessels and lymphatic vessels. The endothelium forms an interface between circulating blood or lymph in the lumen and the rest of the vessel ...
cells. Since the AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
epidemic in Africa, KSHV is also known to attack and infect B lymphocytes, which results in a person having B cell
B cells, also known as B lymphocytes, are a type of white blood cell of the lymphocyte subtype. They function in the humoral immunity component of the adaptive immune system. B cells produce antibody molecules which may be either secreted or ...
lymphomas
Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlar ...
and effusion
In physics and chemistry, effusion is the process in which a gas escapes from a container through a hole of diameter considerably smaller than the mean free path of the molecules. Such a hole is often described as a ''pinhole'' and the escape ...
lymphoma. Prior to her laboratory experience at Duke University, the target for KSHV microRNAs were unknown. Gottwein recently studied the expression of KSHV mRNAs. Through her research she found that Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) has nearly 20 viral mRNAs
In molecular biology, messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) is a single-stranded molecule of RNA that corresponds to the genetic sequence of a gene, and is read by a ribosome in the process of synthesizing a protein.
mRNA is created during the p ...
. During her research she discovered that miR-K10 by itself has the ability to transform cells. In another experiment, Gottwein research found that the function of miRNA KSHV proteins that were used to target certain cellular RNAs. Through her experiment she discovered abnormal ligand reactions that occurred during the absence of exogenous ligase and a unique miRNA binding site. Her goal for the next few years is to learn more about the targetome of the KSHV microRNAs and identification of the virus' functions in oncogenesis.
Notable publications
* * * * * * * * * * *References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gottwein, Eva Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American virologists Northwestern University faculty Heidelberg University alumni