Microbiology and Immunology Graduate Program
BS, Immunology
Guiyang Medical College, China (1998)
MS, Immunology
Guiyang Medical College, China (2001)

Email: yujie.liu@drexel.edu

Advisor: Dr. Brian Wigdahl

Thesis Research Summary

Research on HIV-1 subtype C, the most prevalent HIV-1 subtype worldwide, is very limited. The transcriptional control mechanisms, replication kinetics, and pathogenicity of HIV-1 clade C viruses have not been extensively characterized. Studies of HIV-1 clade B long terminal repeat (LTR) C/EBP binding sites have shown that specific site sequence variants correlate with the severity of immunologic dysfunction and neuropathogenesis, and may serve as potential molecular markers for disease progression. Our goal is to determine if similar relationships exist between functional C/EBP binding sites in clade C HIV-1 LTRs and HIV-1-associated pathogenesis.