Sandra L. Quackenbush is an American

virologist Virology is the scientific study of biological viruses. It is a subfield of microbiology that focuses on their detection, structure, classification and evolution, their methods of infection and exploitation of host cells for reproduction, their ...

working as the associate dean of academic and student affairs and professor of retrovirology at the

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Science. Her research interests include

viral pathogenesis Viral pathogenesis is the study of the process and mechanisms by which viruses cause diseases in their target hosts, often at the cellular or molecular level. It is a specialized field of study in virology. Pathogenesis is a qualitative descriptio ...

, with emphasis in viral-induced

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 ...

Education

Sandra Quackenbush received her bachelor's degree in animal science nutrition from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

in 1979, obtained her Masters in retroviral pathogenesis from

in 1987 and her Ph.D. also in retroviral pathogenesis in 1994 from

. She has had several articles published within her field of study.

Research contributions

Summary of work

Quackenbush has worked with both

gammaretrovirus Gammaretrovirus is a genus in the ''Retroviridae'' Family (biology), family. Example species are the murine leukemia virus and the feline leukemia virus. They cause various sarcomas, leukemias and immune deficiencies in mammals, reptiles and bird ...

(feline leukemia virus) and

epsilonretrovirus ''Epsilonretrovirus'' is a waterborn genus of the ''Retroviridae'' family. It infects fish. The species include ''Walleye dermal sarcoma virus'', and ''Walleye epidermal hyperplasia virus 1 The walleye epidermal hyperplasia viruses are two spec ...

(walleye dermal sarcoma virus) extensively. Gammaretroviruses are single stranded RNA viruses that are present in the genome of vertebrates including reptiles, birds, amphibians, and mammals. Epsilonretroviruses are viruses that infect fish, and have a single stranded RNA genome. Retroviruses within these genera cause disease by containing RNA sequences that code for proteins that promote oncogenesis which leads to sarcomas and leukemias. Through her work with two genera of retroviruses, Quackenbush determined mutations to Gammaretrovirus (feline leukemia virus) makes them less lethal, and Epsilretrovirus (walleye dermal sarcoma virus) contains sequences that encode for cyclin proteins, leading to the proliferation of normal cells and eventually giving a means for cancer cells to become abundant

Most notable work

Her most notable work focuses on

feline leukemia virus Feline leukemia virus (FeLV) is a retrovirus that infects cats. FeLV can be transmitted from infected cats when the transfer of saliva or nasal secretions is involved. If not defeated by the animal's immune system, the virus weakens the cat's i ...

. This report was published in ''Science'' in 1988 and has been cited over 200 times. The research found that replication-defective strains of feline leukemia virus can cause deadly immunodeficiency syndrome in felines. Results of the study revealed that a less fatal form of immunodeficiency syndrome could be induced with mutations to the feline leukemia virus. Phylogeny of Retroviruses

Most recent publication

The most recent published study Quackenbush was involved in was the study of walleye dermal sarcoma virus. This research investigated the role of retroviral cyclin (RV-cyclin) in sarcoma progression in walleyes as a comparable study to human cancer. It was determined that the RV-cyclin bound to

cyclin-dependent kinase Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) are the families of protein kinases first discovered for their role in regulating the cell cycle. They are also involved in regulating transcription, mRNA processing, and the differentiation of nerve cells. They a ...

8 (CDK8) and increased its activity. The genes IEGs are normally stimulated for transcription by cyclin C with an up regulation in CDK8 IEGs are expressed at a higher rate for a period of time. Since IEGs encode for cell proliferation a mutation in the CDK8 could lead to dermal sarcoma. This investigation determined the mechanism behind retrovirus-induced oncogenesis caused by walleye dermal sarcoma virus. These implications would later be used to determine other retroviral-induced oncogenesis in human cancers.

Current research

Quackenbush has current laboratory research focusing on viral-induced oncogenesis, in fish

retroviruses A retrovirus is a type of virus that inserts a DNA copy of its RNA genome into the DNA of a host cell that it invades, thus changing the genome of that cell. Once inside the host cell's cytoplasm, the virus uses its own reverse transcriptase e ...

. Studies investigate how a virus (walleye dermal sarcoma virus) is involved in the introduction of sarcomas. Her lab is trying to determine the mode by which

transcription Transcription refers to the process of converting sounds (voice, music etc.) into letters or musical notes, or producing a copy of something in another medium, including: Genetics * Transcription (biology), the copying of DNA into RNA, the fir ...

apoptosis Apoptosis (from grc, ἀπόπτωσις, apóptōsis, 'falling off') is a form of programmed cell death that occurs in multicellular organisms. Biochemical events lead to characteristic cell changes (morphology) and death. These changes incl ...

, and transduction are controlled by viral regulatory proteins such as kinases. Studies focus on the walleye dermal sarcoma virus and inducing sarcomas.

Publications

*The retroviral cyclin of walleye dermal sarcoma virus binds cylin-dependent kinases 3 and 8. *Transgenic expression of walleye dermal sarcoma virus rv-cyclin (orf A) in Zebrafish does not result in tissue proliferation. *Cancers induced by piscine retroviruses. *Non-primate mammalian and fish retroviruses

Honors

*Named an Outstanding Educator at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

in 2001 by the Mortar Board

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quackenbush, Sandra Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American virologists Colorado State University faculty Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences alumni Colorado State University alumni