Oliver I. Fregoso, PhD

Dr. Oliver Fregoso's lab studies how the lifecycle of HIV and related viruses are regulated by host pathways and host proteins. He is particularly interested in the DNA damage response, which is a highly conserved signaling pathway required for maintenance of genomic integrity. His lab has uncovered DNA damage response proteins and DNA damage response pathways that control HIV-1 infectivity. They are currently developing new functional and computational tools to understand how the DNA damage response regulates viral replication in primary immune cells.

In addition, they have identified unique evolutionary signatures on DNA damage response genes which they hypothesize may affect DNA damage response signaling in primates, and ultimately influence susceptibility to diseases such as viral infection and cancer. Fregoso hopes that the work in his lab will not only help in the fight against HIV, but will also lead to a better understanding of the mechanisms of host biology and disease progression.

Baldauf HM, Stegmann L, Schwarz SM, Ambiel I, Trotard M, Martin M, Burggraf M, Lenzi GM, Lejk H, Pan X, Fregoso OI, Lim ES, Abraham L, Nguyen LA, Rutsch F, Konig R, Kim B, Emerman M, Fackler OT, Keppler OT. Vpx overcomes a SAMHD1-independent block to HIV reverse transcription that is specific to resting CD4 T cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017 Mar 7;114(10):2729-2734. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1613635114. Epub 2017 Feb 22.

Fregoso OI, Emerman M. Activation of the DNA Damage Response Is a Conserved Function of HIV-1 and HIV-2 Vpr That Is Independent of SLX4 Recruitment. MBio. 2016 Sep 13;7(5). pii: e01433-16. doi: 10.1128/mBio.01433-16.

Akerman M, Fregoso OI, Das S, Ruse C, Jensen MA, Pappin DJ, Zhang MQ, Krainer AR. Differential connectivity of splicing activators and repressors to the human spliceosome. Genome Biol. 2015 Jun 6;16:119. doi: 10.1186/s13059-015-0682-5.

Fregoso OI, Ahn J, Wang C, Mehrens J, Skowronski J, Emerman M. Evolutionary toggling of Vpx/Vpr specificity results in divergent recognition of the restriction factor SAMHD1. PLoS Pathog. 2013;9(7):e1003496. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1003496. Epub 2013 Jul 18.

Fregoso OI, Das S, Akerman M, Krainer AR. Splicing-factor oncoprotein SRSF1 stabilizes p53 via RPL5 and induces cellular senescence. Mol Cell. 2013 Apr 11;50(1):56-66. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2013.02.001. Epub 2013 Mar 7.