Cynthia Derdeyn , Ph.D.

Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

• Ph.D., Georgia State University, 1994
• B.S., Georgia State University, 1987

Research Interests: Although substantial progress has been made on understanding the mechanisms of HIV-1 entry into cells, much less is known about how this process influences virus transmission and pathogenesis in vivo. What structural and functional properties of the viral envelope glycoproteins differentiate the transmitted virus from other variants and facilitate transmission across mucosal surfaces? How do the viral envelope glycoproteins exhibit such an extraordinary level of sequence diversity yet retain structure and biological function? To gain a better understanding at the molecular level of which regions of the viral envelope glycoproteins are important for transmission, extablishment of a new infection, and disease progression, we are analyzing HIV-1 virus populations isolated from donor and recipient partners immmediately following a transmission event in a unique cohort of discordant heterosexual couple in Zambia, which is headed by Dr. Susan Allen of International Health. Our approach is to create chimeric viruses between transmitted and non-transmitted strains that differ only in specific parts of the surface glycoprotein, gp120, and study the effects on structure and function in vitro. We are also analyzing samples collected longitudinally from newly infected individuals in Zambia to understand how the hyper-variable and structural domains of gp120 evolve in early infection as the immune response struggles to contain viral replication. These studies are designed to provide (i) an understanding of heterosexual transmission in an African setting; (ii) information about virus evolution from a homogeneous population after infection to a highly heterogeneous and complex population; (iii) the biological consequences of sequential changes in the hyper-variable and structural domains of gp120, and (iv) guidance for design of vaccine immunogens that will elicit neutralizing antibodies against HIV-1.