Bryan R. Cullen Explained

Bryan R. Cullen
Birth Name:Bryan Richard Cullen
Birth Date:December
Birth Place:Bradford, England
Nationality:British
Fields:Molecular Genetics
Microbiology
Workplaces:Duke University
Alma Mater:Rutgers University

Bryan Richard Cullen is a James B. Duke Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. Cullen was the Founding Director of the Duke University Center for Virology.[1]

Early life and education

Cullen was born in December 1951 in Bradford, England, where he graduated head of his class from Thornton Grammar School in 1970. In 1973, he received a B.Sc. in biochemistry from Warwick University, England and in 1974, he received an M.Sc. in virology from Birmingham University, England. Dr. Cullen emigrated to the US in 1974, where he received a Ph.D. in microbiology from Rutgers University, New Jersey, in 1984. He became a US citizen in 1992.[2]

Research

Cullen and his laboratory are currently studying the regulation of viral mRNA expression by epitranscriptomic modifications and the use of CRISPR/Cas as a potential approach to the treatment of chronic diseases caused by DNA viruses.[3] [4]

Cullen discovered the phenomenon of “transcriptional interference” in retroviruses and showed that this explained why proviral 5’LTRs are active while 3’ LTRs are silenced.[5] After starting his own research group in 1984, he demonstrated that the HIV-1 Tat protein activates viral transcription and that the HIV-1 Rev protein induces viral RNA nuclear export.[6] [7] [8] [9] He demonstrated that HIV-1 readily infects non-dividing cells,[10] an unexpected result that overturned then prevalent dogma, and showed that a single variable loop in the Envelope protein, the V3 loop, controls HIV-1 tissue tropism.[11]

His laboratory was the first to express and functionally characterize microRNAs in mammalian cells and the first to identify and functionally characterize the microRNAs encoded by the herpesviruses KHSV, EBV and HSV-1.[12] [13] [14] [15]

Recently, his laboratory was the first to report that several distinct epitranscriptomic modifications added to viral mRNAs promote viral gene expression and replication.[3] [16]

Controversy

On May 24, 2022, Cullen replied-all to a department-wide email about an inclusivity module by claiming that it is a "left-wing Maoist political propaganda workshop" and that he will refuse to engage in it "as a tenured faculty". He was widely criticized in the same email chain, where he was also perceived to be transphobic.[17]

Awards and honors

Cullen was the recipient of the 1989 Ely Lilly Molecular Biology Award.[18] [19] He was awarded a distinguished fellowship by Durham University, UK in 2007.[20] He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology since 2009 and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science since 2011.[21] [22] He was named one of the top peer reviewers by the Journal of Virology in 2009 and 2011 and has been identified as a highly cited scientist by both Clarivate Analytics at Web of Science and by Thomson Reuters annually since 2001.[23] He was awarded an honorary doctorate of science (D.Sc.) degree by Warwick University in 2016.

Key publications

Editorship

Dr. Cullen has served as an Associate Editor for Cell, and PLoS Pathogens.[26] He has also served as an editorial board member for several major journals.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: MGM Bryan Cullen, PhD. mgm.duke.edu. 2019-09-14.
  2. Cullen. Bryan R. 2014-04-01. Interview with Bryan R Cullen. Future Virology. 9. 4. 345–350. 10.2217/fvl.14.17. 1746-0794.
  3. Kennedy. Edward M.. Bogerd. Hal P.. Kornepati. Anand V. R.. Kang. Dong. Ghoshal. Delta. Marshall. Joy B.. Poling. Brigid C.. Tsai. Kevin. Gokhale. Nandan S.. Horner. Stacy M.. Cullen. Bryan R.. 2017-12-13. Posttranscriptional m6A Editing of HIV-1 mRNAs Enhances Viral Gene Expression. Cell Host & Microbe. en. 22. 6. 830. 10.1016/j.chom.2017.11.010. 1931-3128. 5746179. 29241043.
  4. Courtney. David G.. Kennedy. Edward M.. Dumm. Rebekah E.. Bogerd. Hal P.. Tsai. Kevin. Heaton. Nicholas S.. Cullen. Bryan R.. 2017-09-13. Epitranscriptomic Enhancement of Influenza A Virus Gene Expression and Replication. Cell Host & Microbe. en. 22. 3. 377–386.e5. 10.1016/j.chom.2017.08.004. 1931-3128. 5615858. 28910636.
  5. Cullen. Bryan R.. Lomedico. Peter T.. Ju. Grace. 1984-01-01. Transcriptional interference in avian retroviruses—implications for the promoter insertion model of leukaemogenesis. Nature. en. 307. 5948. 241–245. 1984Natur.307..241C. 10.1038/307241a0. 1476-4687. 6363938. 4277058 .
  6. Cullen. Bryan R.. 1986-09-26. Trans-activation of human immunodeficiency virus occurs via a bimodal mechanism. Cell. en. 46. 7. 973–982. 10.1016/0092-8674(86)90696-3. 0092-8674. 3530501. 20968163 .
  7. Malim. Michael H.. Hauber. Joachim. Le. Shu-Yun. Maizel. Jacob V.. Cullen. Bryan R.. March 1989. The HIV-1 rev trans -activator acts through a structured target sequence to activate nuclear export of unspliced viral mRNA. Nature. en. 338. 6212. 254–257. 10.1038/338254a0. 2784194 . 1989Natur.338..254M . 4367958 . 1476-4687.
  8. Malim. Michael H.. Böhnlein. Sabine. Hauber. Joachim. Cullen. Bryan R.. 1989-07-14. Functional dissection of the HIV-1 Rev trans-activator—Derivation of a trans-dominant repressor of Rev function. Cell. en. 58. 1. 205–214. 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90416-9. 0092-8674. 2752419. 19289070 .
  9. Malim. Michael H.. Tiley. Laurence S.. McCarn. David F.. Rusche. James R.. Hauber. Joachim. Cullen. Bryan R.. 1990-02-23. HIV-1 structural gene expression requires binding of the rev trans-activator to its RNA target sequence. Cell. en. 60. 4. 675–683. 10.1016/0092-8674(90)90670-A. 0092-8674. 2406030. 19377586 .
  10. Weinberg. J. B.. Matthews. T. J.. Cullen. B. R.. Malim. M. H.. 1991-12-01. Productive human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection of nonproliferating human monocytes.. Journal of Experimental Medicine. en. 174. 6. 1477–1482. 2119042. 10.1084/jem.174.6.1477. 1720811 . 0022-1007. free.
  11. Hwang. S. S.. Boyle. T. J.. Lyerly. H. K.. Cullen. B. R.. 1992-07-24. Identification of envelope V3 loop as the major determinant of CD4 neutralization sensitivity of HIV-1. Science. en. 257. 5069. 535–537. 10.1126/science.1636088. 0036-8075. 1636088. 1992Sci...257..535H.
  12. Zeng. Yan. Wagner. Eric J.. Cullen. Bryan R.. 2002-06-01. Both Natural and Designed Micro RNAs Can Inhibit the Expression of Cognate mRNAs When Expressed in Human Cells. Molecular Cell. en. 9. 6. 1327–1333. 10.1016/S1097-2765(02)00541-5. 1097-2765. 12086629. free.
  13. Cai. Xuezhong. Lu. Shihua. Zhang. Zhihong. Gonzalez. Carlos M.. Damania. Blossom. Cullen. Bryan R.. 2005-04-12. Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus expresses an array of viral microRNAs in latently infected cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. en. 102. 15. 5570–5575. 10.1073/pnas.0408192102. 0027-8424. 556237. 15800047. 2005PNAS..102.5570C . free .
  14. Umbach. Jennifer Lin. Kramer. Martha F.. Jurak. Igor. Karnowski. Heather W.. Coen. Donald M.. Cullen. Bryan R.. MicroRNAs expressed by herpes simplex virus 1 during latent infection regulate viral mRNAs. Nature. 2008 . en. 454. 7205. 780–783. 10.1038/nature07103. 1476-4687. 2666538. 18596690. 2008Natur.454..780U .
  15. Cai. Xuezhong. Schäfer. Alexandra. Lu. Shihua. Bilello. John P.. Desrosiers. Ronald C.. Edwards. Rachel. Raab-Traub. Nancy. Cullen. Bryan R.. 2006-03-24. Epstein–Barr Virus MicroRNAs Are Evolutionarily Conserved and Differentially Expressed. PLOS Pathogens. en. 2. 3. e23. 10.1371/journal.ppat.0020023. 1553-7374. 1409806. 16557291 . free .
  16. Courtney, David G. . Bryan . Epitranscriptomic enhancement of influenza A virus gene expression and replication. . Cell Host & Microbe . 2017 . 22 . 3 . 377–386.e5 . 10.1016/j.chom.2017.08.004. 28910636 . 5615858 . free .
  17. Web site: Duke School of Medicine professor describes mandatory equity training as Maoist political propaganda, refuses to attend. dukechronicle.com. 2022-05-26.
  18. Web site: MGM Bryan Cullen, PhD – Biography. mgm.duke.edu. 2020-02-25.
  19. Web site: MGM FACULTY AWARDS AND HONORS. mgm.duke.edu. 2020-02-25.
  20. Web site: Institute of Advanced Study : IAS Fellows 2006/07: Publications – Durham University. www.dur.ac.uk. 2020-02-25.
  21. Web site: AAAS Members Elected as Fellows. American Association for the Advancement of Science. en. 2020-02-25.
  22. Web site: 73 scientists elected to the American Academy of Microbiology. EurekAlert!. en. 2020-02-25.
  23. Web site: Global List of Highly Cited Puts Duke in Top Ten. today.duke.edu. 19 November 2019 . en. 2020-02-25.
  24. SS Hwang . TJ Boyle . HK Lyerly . BR Cullen . Identification of the envelope V3 loop as the primary determinant of cell tropism in HIV-1 . Science . 1991 . 253 . 5015 . 71–74 . 10.1126/science.1905842. 1905842 . 1991Sci...253...71H .
  25. Courtney. David G.. Kennedy. Edward M.. Dumm. Rebekah E.. Bogerd. Hal P.. Tsai. Kevin. Heaton. Nicholas S.. Cullen. Bryan R.. 2017-09-13. Epitranscriptomic Enhancement of Influenza A Virus Gene Expression and Replication. Cell Host & Microbe. en. 22. 3. 377–386.e5. 10.1016/j.chom.2017.08.004. 28910636. 5615858 . 1931-3128. free.
  26. Web site: PLOS Pathogens: A Peer-Reviewed Open-Access Journal. journals.plos.org. 2020-02-25.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Bryan R. Cullen".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.