By becoming one of our graduate students, you will take part in an exciting multidisciplinary graduate program

Cheng Kao

Professor

Education

BS, Microbiology and Biology, University of Michigan
PhD, Microbiology, Michigan State University

Research

We are interested in both basic and applied studies of how RNA viruses interact with the host cell. The lab has three interrelated areas of focus, and these have the potential to enrich each other. More »

Representative Publications

Bhardwaj, K., S. Palaninathan, L. Yi. L. Guarino, J. Sacchettini, and C. Kao. 2008. Structure, function, and substrate specificity for the SARS-CoV Nsp15 endoribonuclease. J. Biol. Chem. 283, 3655-3664.

Yi, G. and C. Kao. 2008. Cis- and trans-acting functions of brome mosaic virus protein 1a in genomic RNA1 replication. J. Virol. 82, 3045-3053.

Gangloff, M., A. Murali, J. Xiong, C. J. Arnot, A.N. Weber, A. M. Sandercock, C.V. Robinson, R. T. Sarisky, A. Holzenburg. N. J. Gay* and C. Kao* (Co-corresponding authors). 2008. An indirect alosteric mechanism for activation of the Toll receptor by the dimeric ligand Spatzle. J. Biol. Chem. 283, 14629-14635.

Ranjith-Kumar, C.T. K.E. Duffy, J.L. Jordan, A. Eaton-Bassiri, R.T. Sarisky, and C. Kao. 2008. Single-stranded deoxyoligonucleotides are potent inhibitors of cytokine production induced by the human Toll-Like Receptor 3. Mol. Cell. Biol. 28, 4507-4519.

Murali, A., X. Li, C.T. Ranjith-Kumar, K. Bhardwaj, A. Holzenburg, P. Li, and C. Kao. 2008. Structure and function of LGP2, a DExD/H helicase that regulates the innate immunity response. J. Biol. Chem. 283:15825-15833.

Chinnaswamy S., I. Yarbrough, S. Palaninathan, C. T. Ranjith Kumar, V. Vijayaraghavan, B. Demeler, S.M. Lemon3, J. C. Sacchettini, and C. C. Kao. 2008. A locking mechanism regulates RNA synthesis and host protein interaction by the hepatitis C virus polymerase. J. Biol. Chem. 283(29):20535-20536. Doi:10.1074/jbc.M801490200.

Gopinath, K., and C. Kao. 2007. Reconstitution of viral RNA infection through trafficking of viral RNAs in plants. The Plant Cell 19, 1-13. Sun, J., DuFort, C. A. Murali, M. D. Daniel, C. Chen, K. Gopinath, B. Stein, M. De, Vince Rotello, A. Holzenburg, C. C. Kao, and B. Dragnea. 2007. Core-controlled polymorphism in virus-like particles. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 104:1354-1359.

Zhu, J., K. Gopinath, G. Yi, D. Hayward, H, Zhu, and C. Kao. 2007. RNA-binding Proteins that Inhibit RNA Virus Infection. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 104: 3129-9134.

Yi, G. and C. Kao. 2007. Selective repression of translation by the Brome Mosaic Virus 1a RNA replication protein. J. Virol. 81: 1601-1609.