Jane McKeating, PhD. Professor of Molecular Virology, University of Birmingham, UK. Jane’s research has focused on the mechanism of viral glycoprotein-receptor interactions required for particle entry, having published over 100 peer-reviewed articles in this area. Jane completed her PhD on cytomegalovirus at University College London in 1985. Since then she studied human immunodeficiency virus interaction with cells of the
Jane McKeating, PhD. Professor of Molecular Virology, University of Birmingham, UK. Jane’s research has focused on the mechanism of viral glycoprotein-receptor interactions required for particle entry, having published over 100 peer-reviewed articles in this area. Jane completed her PhD on cytomegalovirus at University College London in 1985. Since then she studied human immunodeficiency virus interaction with cells of the immune system, and was awarded the Fleming medal in 1997 for her work in this field. More recently she focused her attention to hepatitis C virus (HCV) interaction(s) with the host and her laboratory studies the mechanism of HCV entry. HCV internalization requires a complex number of host cell molecules CD81, scavenger receptor BI and the tight junction proteins claudin-1 and occludin. Recent data suggests that HCV may transmit via cell-free particle infection of hepatoma cells and directly via cell-cell transmission, which may allow the virus to evade host immune responses.
