Marshall E. Bloom, M.D.
Head, Tick‑Borne Flavivirus Pathogenesis Section
Associate Director, Rocky Mountain Laboratories
Senior Investigator
Dr. Bloom received his M.D. in 1971 from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO, and then joined the Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML) of NIAID in 1972 as a research associate. From 1975 to 1977, he was a postdoctoral fellow in the NIAID Laboratory of the Biology of Viruses on the NIH campus in Bethesda, MD. He returned to RML as a tenured investigator in 1977 and was a charter member of the Laboratory of Persistent Viral Diseases. He is a world expert in the molecular biology and pathogenesis of parvoviruses and spent much of his career studying Aleutian mink disease parvovirus. In 2004, Dr. Bloom’s research group changed its focus to the pathogenesis of tick-borne flaviviruses. Dr. Bloom is also the Associate Director for RML in NIAID's Division of Intramural Research, a position he has held since 2002. He serves on the editorial board of Virology.
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| Human monocyte-derived dendritic cells infected with Langat virus (red) and treated with type I interferon. The cells were then stained for tyrosine-phosphorylated STAT1 (green) that is present in the nucleus of responsive cells. Langat virus inhibits the ability of infected cells to respond. The viral protein responsible is the nonstructural protein, NS5, identified as a novel interferon antagonist of the vector-borne flaviviruses. |
Description of Research Program
The laboratory investigates the pathogenesis of viruses belonging to the tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) virus complex of flaviviruses. Endemic throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere, these viruses can cause severe encephalitis, meningitis, or hemorrhagic fevers with relatively high mortality rates. Our research utilizes two animal models of infection, the mouse and the tick, to examine viral determinants of transmission and virulence. Understanding these aspects of pathogenesis will provide targets for the design of therapeutics and vaccines.
Major Areas of Research
- Interactions between TBE viruses and innate immune responses, including interferon and apoptosis signaling pathways
- Viral determinants of neuro-virulence and neuro-invasiveness
- Viral determinants of effective vertical (through the tick life stages) and horizontal (from tick to mammalian host) transmission
Research Group Members
Sonja M. Best, Ph.D., Research Fellow; Dana N. Mitzel, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow; James B. Wolfinbarger (Wolf), Technician
Selected Recent Publications
Best SM, Morris KL, Shannon J, Robertson SJ, Mitzel DN, Park GS, Boer E, Wolfinbarger JB, Bloom ME. Inhibition of interferon-stimulated JAK-STAT signaling by a tick-borne flavivirus and identification of NS5 as an interferon antagonist. Journal of Virology. 2005. 79(20): 12828-12839.
Park GS, Best SM, Bloom ME. Two mink parvoviruses use different cellular receptors for entry into CrFK cells. Virology. 2005. 340(2): 1-9.
Best SM, Bloom ME. Caspase activation during virus infection: more than just the kiss of death? Virology. 2004. 320:191-194.
Best SM, Shelton JF, Pompey JM, Wolfinbarger JB, Bloom ME. Caspase cleavage of the nonstructural protein NS1 mediates replication of Aleutian mink disease parvovirus (ADV). Journal of Virology. 2003. 77(9): 5305-5312.
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