Important information

Since 2011, Peter Beard is Professor Emeritus and now concentrates on working with the undergraduate Teaching Section of Life Sciences and Technology on coordinating the Master's program in Molecular Medicine.

 

Research

Anti-oncogenic functions of viruses

Several viruses of the parvovirus family infect cancer cells and have tumor suppressive activity. Our work is aimed at understanding how adeno-associated virus (AAV) interferes with cell division and induces cell killing of cancer cells that are defective in the p53- or certain other cellular signaling pathways. Part of the cell's response to AAV is the triggering of DNA damage signaling originating from the viral DNA. The multi-functional viral replication protein, Rep, also can signal cell cycle arrest. AAV therefore provides a unique opportunity to study DNA damage response pathways without actually damaging the cellular DNA, as well as mechanisms of viral interference in cell cycle control. The information yielded by AAV adds a new dimension to our understanding of the behavior of cancer cells and may have the potential to lead to novel approaches to cancer therapy.