Craig Brunetti
 Associate Professor

B.Sc. (McMaster University), Ph.D. (McMaster University) Office: LHS D214 Phone: 705-748-1011 ext. 7110 Email: craigbrunetti@trentu.ca Lab: LHS D209

                                     

Research interests:
Molecular Virology and Viral Pathogenesis

The study of viral immune modulation strategies has
increased our understanding of the diverse array of mechanisms that viruses use to circumvent the host immune response as well as providing a greater understanding of host immune function.  In particular, the large DNA viruses, such as the Herpesviridae and Poxviridae families encode an array of viral proteins that subvert immune system function at many different levels.  Although many immune evasion genes have been identified, the cellular targets of these virulence factors are often specific to a particular virus or viral family.  Our laboratory is using a scientifically unexploited family of large DNA viruses, the Iridoviridae, to identify new viral immune evasion strategies.  Identifying viral immune evasion genes from the Iridoviridae family will help identify new cellular anti-viral pathways that are not targeted by other viral families as well as providing greater insight into the function of previously identified cellular anti-viral responses. 

Teaching:
BIOL 1030H: Current Issues in Biology II
BIOL 4260H: Virology

Selected publications

Eaton, H.E., B. Ring, and C.R. Brunetti (2010). The evolution and diversity of the Iridoviridae. Viruses 2:1458.

Eaton, H.E., E. Penny, and C.R. Brunetti (2010). Antibody dependent enhancement of frog virus 3 infection. Virology Journal 7:41.

Eaton, H.E., J. Metcalf, and C.R. Brunetti (2008). Expression of frog
virus 3 genes is impaired in mammalian cell lines. Virology Journal
5: 83

Eaton, H.E., J. Metcalf, and C.R. Brunetti (2008). Characterization
of the promoter activity of a poxvirus conserved element. Can. J.
Microbiol 54:483-488

Nazarian S.H., M.M Rahman, S.J. Werden, D. Villeneuve, X. Meng, C.
Brunetti, C. Valeriano, C. Wong, R. Singh, J.W. Barrett, Y. Xiang, and
G. McFadden (2008). Yaba monkey tumor virus encodes a functional
inhibitor of interleukin-18. J. Virology 82: 522-528

Duffus, A.L.J., B.D. Pauli, K. Wozney, C.R. Brunetti, and M. Berrill
(2008). Frog virus 3-like infections in aquatic amphibian communities.
Journal of Wildlife Diseases 44:109-120

Eaton, H.E., J. Metcalf, E. Penny, V. Tcherepanov, C. Upton, and C.R.
Brunetti (2007). Comparative genomic analysis of the family
Iridoviridae: re-annotating and defining the core set of iridovirus
genes. Virology Journal 4: 11

Barrett, J.W., Y. Sun, S.H. Nazarian, T.A. Belsito, C.R. Brunetti, and
G. McFadden (2006). Optimization of codon usage of poxvirus genes
allows for improved transient expression in mammalian cells. Virus
Genes 33:15-26

Lewis, D.L. and C.R. Brunetti (2006). Ectopic transgene expression in
butterfly imaginal wing discs using vaccinia virus. Biotechniques 40:
48-54

Brunetti, C.R., H. Amano, Y. Ueda, J. Qin, T. Miyamura, T. Suzuki, X.
Li, J.W. Barrett, and G. McFadden (2003). The complete genomic
sequence and comparative analysis of the tumorigenic poxvirus Yaba
monkey tumor virus. Journal of Virology 77: 13335-13347

Seet, B.T., C.A. McCaughan, T.M. Handel, A. Mercer, C. Brunetti, G.
McFadden, and S.B. Fleming (2003). Analysis of an orf virus chemokine-
binding protein: Shifting ligand specificities among a family of
poxvirus viroceptors. Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences
USA 100:15137-15142

Brunetti, C.R., M. Paulose-Murphy, R. Singh, J. Qin, J.W. Barrett, A.
Tardivel, P. Schneider, K. Essani, and G. McFadden (2003). A high
affinity inhibitor of human TNF from Tanapox virus. Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences USA, 100:4831-4836

Seet, B.T., J.B. Johnson, C.R. Brunetti, J.W. Barrett, H. Everett, C.
Cameron, J. Sypula, S. Nazarian, A. Lucas, and G. McFadden (2003).
Poxviruses and immune evasion. Annual Reviews of Immunology, 21: 377-423