Sherry, Barbara, Ph.D.
Professor of Virology College of Veterinary Medicine
Director of Genomic Sciences Graduate Programs

Phone: (919) 515-4480
Fax: (919) 515-3044
E-mail: barbara_sherry@ncsu.edu

Research Area:

We study reovirus-induced myocarditis (cardiac inflammation and tissue damage) in mice as a model for this important human disease. Recently, we have focused on the cardiac response to viral infection, with particular emphasis on viral induction of the antiviral cytokine interferon-beta in cardiac cells. We are interested in both the viral genes that stimulate this response, and the cardiac transcription factors and antiviral proteins that are central to protection against disease. Our approaches, using primarily molecular techniques, include the use of transgenic mice and primary cardiac myocyte cell cultures. This research is funded primarily by NIH.

We have also received NIH funding to investigate the smallpox vaccine and related poxviruses in an effort to determine the basis for vaccine-associated cardiac adverse effects, in collaboration with Dr. David Pickup at Duke University. Our short-term goal is to identify strain-specific effects on cardiac cells and the heart, towards development of a safer vaccine.
Selected Publications:

Zurney, J., K.E. Howard, and B. Sherry.  2007.  Basal expression of IFNAR and Jak-STAT components are determinants of cell type-specific differences in the cardiac antiviral response.  Journal of Virology, 81:13668-13680.

                        - This publication was selected as one of that issue's "Spotlights", which are "Articles of Significant Interest Selected from This Issue by the Editors" (http://jvi.asm.org/current.dtl)

Holm, G.H., J. Zurney, V. Tumilasci, S. Leveille, P. Danthi, J. Hiscott, B. Sherry, and T.S. Dermody.  2007.  RIG-I and IPS-1 augment proapoptotic responses following mammalian reovirus infection via IRF-3.  The Journal of Biological Chemistry 282(30):21953-61.

O’Donnell, S.M., M.W. Hansberger, J.L. Connolly, J.D. Chappell, M.J. Watson, J.M. Pierce, W. Han, E.S. Barton, J.C. Forrest, T. Valyi-Nagy, F.E. Yull, T.S. Blackwell, J.N. Rottman, B. Sherry, and T.S. Dermody.  2005.  Organ-specific roles for transcription factor NF-B in reovirus-induced apoptosis and disease.  The Journal of Clinical Investigation 115(9): 2341-2350.

Stewart, M.J., K. Smoak, M.A. Blum, and B Sherry. 2005. Basal and reovirus-induced intereferon-b (IFN-b) and IFN-b-stimulated gene expression are cell type-specific in the cardiac protective response. J. Virology 79(5):2979-2987.

DeBiasi R.L., B.A. Robinson, B. Sherry, R. Bouchard, R.D. Brown, M. Rizeq, C. Long, and K. Tyler. 2004. Caspase inhibition protects against reovirus-induced myocardial injury in vitro and in vivo. J. Virol. 78: 11040-11050.

Stewart, M.J., M.A. Blum, and B. Sherry. PKR's protective role in viral myocarditis. Virology 314:92-100, 2003.

Azzam, K.M., D.L. Noah, M.J. Stewart, M.A. Blum, and B. Sherry. Interferon regulatory factor-1, interferon- and reovirus-induced myocarditis. Virology 298:20-29, 2002

Sherry, B. The role of Interferon Regulatory Factors in the cardiac response to viral infection. Viral Immunology 15(1):17-28, 2002.

DeBiasi RL, Edelstein C, Sherry B, and Tyler KL: Calpain inhibition protects against virus-induced apoptotic myocardial injury. J. Virol. 75:351-361, 2001.

Noah DL, Azzam KM, Blum MA, and Sherry B: Interferon regulatory factor-3 is required for viral induction of interferon-b in primary cardiac myocyte cultures but not L929 cells. J. Virol. 73:10208-10213, 1999.

Brentano L, Noah DL, Brown EG, and Sherry B: The reovirus protein m2, encoded by the M1 gene, is an RNA-binding protein. J. Virol. 72:8354-8357, 1998.

Sherry B, Torres J, and Blum MA: Reovirus induction of and sensitivity to beta interferon in cardiac myocyte cultures correlate with induction of myocarditis and are determined by viral core proteins. J. Virol. 72:1314-1323, 1998.

Graduate Students:

Jennifer Zurney
Doctoral Student
Microbiology graduate program

Lianna Li
Doctoral Student
Functional Genomics graduate program

Susan Irvin
Doctoral Student
Comparative Biomedical Sciences graduate program

 Other:


Lab Manager : Wrennie Edwards
wrennie_edwards@ncsu.edu

Undergraduate Research Student: Casey Andrason (Animal Science, CALS)

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