עברית

Prof. Meir Shamay

Associate professor
Telephone
072-2644929
Bar-Ilan Email
meir.shamay@biu.ac.il
Office
D102
Fields of Interest

The goal of our lab is to expand our knowledge on viral infections, and to utilize this knowledge for the development and use of drugs that specifically target virally infected cells. About 15% of the cancer cases are associated with viral infections. The two herpes viruses we study; Kaposi’s sarcoma associated herpesvirus (KSHV, HHV-8) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV, HHV-4), are associated with increasing number of human malignancies. By studying the changes these viruses impose on the cells, that later become cancers, we aim to develop novel strategies for the treatment and detection of viral associated malignancies.

Personal Website
https://www.meirshamaylab.com/
Academic field
Virology
Neoplasia
Research field
Viral Oncology and Epigenetics
CV

Prof. Shamay is an associate professor who researches viral oncology and epigenetics.

Research

The research interests in the lab are to study the functional interactions between viral proteins and the cellular machinery, which control both the viral life cycle and tumorigenesis.  About 15% of the cancers in humans are associated with viral infections. The viruses we study are the human gamma herpes viruses; Kaposi’s sarcoma associated herpesvirus (KSHV, HHV-8) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV, HHV-4) that are associated with increasing number of human malignancies. EBV is a ubiquitous virus that infects over 90% of adults worldwide, including Israel. KSHV prevalence varies significantly depending on the geographic regions; in Israel about 10% are infected. While in the majority of infected individuals these viruses do not lead to cancer development, under specific condition such as suppression of the immune system they promote cancer development. The goal of our lab is to expand our knowledge on viral infections, and to utilize this knowledge for the development and use of drugs that specifically target virally infected cells. 

We have specific interest to understand how these viruses modulate our epigenome. Epigenetic marks such as DNA methylation, histone modifications and chromatin remodeling are important regulators of gene expression. Together with genetic alterations, epigenetic modifications are responsible for the development of many diseases, including cancer. We perform gene specific and whole genome DNA methylation analysis and combine these with whole transcriptome (RNA-seq) analysis to reveal the impact of viral infection on DNA methylation and gene expression. 

Human endogenous viral elements (EVE) or transposable elements (TEs), as their name suggest, have the ability to transpose (jump) within their host genome. They are ubiquitous in eukaryotic genomes, occupying about 45% of the human genome. Our recent study revealed that KSHV infection dysregulate many transposable elements within the infected cells.

Examples of scientific questions we ask:

1.    What are the global epigenetic changes these viruses impose on infected cells during tumor development?

2.    Which epigenetic marks differentiate infected cell from infected cell that become cancerous? The results of these studies will help us to develop novel methods for the detection of viral associated malignancies.

3.    How exogenous virus like KSHV modulates the expression of human endogenous viruses (transposable elements)? 

After reading the above, if you have a scientific question related to our study let’s talk about your next project.   
 

 

Publications
  1. Cohen-Gulkar M, David A, Messika-Gold N, Eshel M, Ovadia S, Zuk-Bar N, Idelson M, Cohen-Tayar Y, Reubinoff B, Ziv T, Shamay M, Elkon R, Ashery-Padan R. The LHX2-OTX2 transcriptional regulatory module controls retinal pigmented epithelium differentiation and underlies genetic risk for age-related macular degeneration. PLoS Biol. 2023 Jan 17;21(1):e3001924.

 

  1. Gam Ze Letova C, Kalt I, Shamay M, Sarid R. Latently KSHV-Infected Cells Promote Further Establishment of Latency upon Superinfection with KSHV. Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Nov 5;22(21):11994.

 

  1. Journo G, Ahuja A, Dias-Polak D, Eran Y, Bergman R and Shamay M. Global CpG DNA Methylation Footprint in Kaposi’s Sarcoma. Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol., 09 July 2021 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2021.666143

 

  1. Ahuja A, Journo G, Eitan R, Rubin E, Shamay M: High levels of LINE-1 transposable elements expressed in Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus-related primary effusion lymphoma. Oncogene. 2020 Nov 13. doi: 10.1038/s41388-020-01549-9.

 

  1. Naipauer J, Salyakina D, Journo G, Rosario S, Williams S, Abba M, Shamay M, Mesri EA: High-throughput sequencing analysis of a "hit and run" cell and animal model of KSHV tumorigenesis PLoS Pathog. 2020 Jun 30;16(6):e1008589. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1008589. (Shamay M is co-corresponding author).

 

  1. Shamay M, Kanakry JA, Low JSW, Horowitz NA, Journo G, Ahuja A, Eran Y, Barzilai E, Dann EJ, Stone J, Woo WL, Hsieh WS, Xian RR, Ambinder RF:  CpG methylation in cell-free Epstein-Barr virus DNA in patients with EBV-Hodgkin lymphoma. Blood Adv. 2020 Apr 28;4(8):1624-1627. doi:10.1182/bloodadvances.2020001511.

 

  1.   Cohen EM, Avital N, Shamay M, Kobiler O: Abortive herpes simplex virus infection of nonneuronal cells results in quiescent viral genomes that can reactivate. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019 Dec 23. pii: 201910537. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1910537117.

 

  1.   Tadmor H, Greenway M, Ahuja A, Orgil O, Liao G, Ambinder RF, Hayward SD, Shamay M: Kaposi's Sarcoma Associated Herpesvirus LANA Modulates the Stability of the E3 Ubiquitin Ligase RLIM. J Virol. 2019 Dec 4. pii: JVI.01578-19. doi: 10.1128/JVI.01578-19.

 

  1.   Journo G, Tushinsky C, Shterngas A, Avital N, Eran Y, Karpuj MV, Frenkel-Morgenstern M, Shamay M: Modulation of Cellular CpG DNA Methylation by Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus. J Virol. 2018 Jul 31;92(16).

 

Last Updated Date : 16/11/2023