Name:

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Education:

2000 B.A., Natural Science, Covenant College, Lookout Mtn., GA

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The overall goal of my project is to investigate the immunologic and virologic mechanisms of ocular virus infections, namely acute retinal necrosis (ARN).  Acute retinal necrosis (ARN) is a potentially blinding disease caused by members of the neurotropic herpes simplex virus family (HSV-1, HSV-2, and VZV).  It can occur in immunocompetent human patients and is characterized by necrotizing retinitis, optic neuropathy, and retinal vasculitis.  Our laboratory uses a mouse model of the human disease ARN by intraocular injection of HSV-1 into the anterior chamber of euthymic BALB/c mice.  Virus travels via synaptic transmission through the CNS eventually causing infection of the optic nerve and retina of the uninjected eye.  This infection leads to acute retinitis and retinal necrosis.  My project specifically seeks to understand the role of immune effector cells, such as macrophages, and the role cytokines, such as TNF-a, play in limiting virus spread in the eyes and brain of HSV-1 infected BALB/c mice.

Publications:

TNF-a Following Anterior Chamber Inoculation of HSV-1  EY015392 (MAF)

Fields MA, Archin NM, Zheng M, Atherton SS. The role of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) in the eyes and brain of HSV-1 infected BALB/c mice.  Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci.  2003;44: Abstract #4633. 

MA Fields, H Qian, M Zheng, N Patel, SS Atherton.  The role of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a) in the brain of HSV-1 infected BALB/c mice [ABRCMS abstract] 2003.

MA Fields, H Qian, M Zheng, N Patel, SS Atherton. Tumor Necrosis Factor-a (TNF-a) and Macrophages in the Brain of HSV-1 Infected BALB/c Mice [ARVO abstract] 2004.

Zheng M, Li H, Fields M., Qian H, Yu FS and Atherton SS. The involvement of Toll like receptor 7 in the pathogenesis of ARN [ARVO abstract] 2004.

Zheng M, Nnadozie DC, Fields M and Atherton SS. Toll like receptor 3, 7, 9 upregulation and TNF-a expression in response to HSV-1 infection in the murine brain [International Herpesvirus Workshop abstract] 2004.

 MA Fields, H Qian, M Zheng, N Patel, SS Atherton. Tumor Necrosis Factor-a (TNF-a) and Macrophages in the Brain of HSV-1 Infected BALB/c Mice [International Herpes virus Workshop abstract] 2004.

S.S. Atherton, M.A. Fields, M. Zheng, M.Zhang. TNF-alpha, Macrophages, and Virus Spread in the SCN.  [ARVO abstract] 2005.

M. Zheng, M.A. Fields, B. Marshall, S.S. Atherton.  Toll-Like Receptor 4 (TLR4) Mediated Cell Survival Promotes HSV-1 Induced Murine ARN [ARVO abstract] 2005.

Koike T, Yamagishi H, Hatanaka Y, Fukushima A, Chang JW, Xia Y, Fields M, Chandler P, Iwashima M. 2003.  A novel ERK-dependent signaling process that regulates interleukin-2 expression in a late phase of T cell activation.  J Biol Chem. 278(18):15685-92.