By Seth Hooker
A possible link between gammaherpesviruses and lymphomas will receive further study at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) with a National Cancer Institute (NCI) grant.
The five-year, $1.25 million grant renewal will mostly support ongoing work to better understand how gammaherpesvirus promotes mutations (chromosomal translocations) that lead to lymphomas. In addition, the grant will allow UAMS’ Craig Forrest, Ph.D., to study the possible link between combined malaria and gammaherpesvirus infections in the development of lymphoma.
The funding will also help further Forrest’s work on earlier discoveries related to the tumor-suppressor protein, p53. The protein, his lab found, is critical for preventing chronic infection from gammaherpesviruses.
