Marie C. Pizzorno-Simpson
Director Cell Biology/biochemistry program

pizzorno@bucknell.edu
Biology Building Lab-2??
Phone: 570-577-3084
Lab Phone: 609-577-1780

Pizzorno Lab Web page

Faculty Assistant Information:
Karen Shrawder 570-577-1124

Educational Background

B.A., Whittier College
Ph.D., Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Recent Activities

I joined the department in 1996 and was awarded tenure in 2001. Before arriving at Bucknell I was a visiting professor in the Biology Department at Vassar College and completed postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Tom Shenk at Princeton University. I have been actively studying the molecular and cellular biology of cytomegalovirus, a human herpesvirus, since 1985. At Bucknell, I teach BIOL205 - Introduction to Molecules and Cells, BIOL 347-Virology, BIOL 327-Molecular Biology and a section of BIOL 340-Biochemical Methods .

Research Interests

• The main focus of my research has been on the molecular and cellular biology of eukaryotic viruses, specifically herpesviruses. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a herpesvirus which is very species and cell-type specific, preferring to grow in differentiated cells. Work that I started as a post-doctoral fellow suggested that one of the blocks to infection by CMV in many cell types may be during entry and uncoating of the virus particle in the host cell. Students in my lab are involved in using several experimental approaches to study this problem. These include localizing viral structural proteins and DNA during early events of infection using immunofluorescence and in-situ hybridization, studying protein-protein interactions between viral and cellular proteins by expressing cloned genes in bacteria, and identifying biochemical differences between permissive and non-permissive cells using protein purification. In addition, students learn how to manipulate cells and virus in tissue culture and basic recombinant DNA and protein biochemistry techniques. Studying events that occur early during infection in several cell types will elucidate both the virus-cell interactions that control permissivity in CMV and the molecular details of virus entry.

Selected Publications and Meeting Presentations

Pizzorno, M.C., Rice, T.B., Sutton, S. Proteolytic Degradation of the Tegument Protein pp150 Occurs During Penetration of Cells by Human Cytomegalovirus. (in preparation)

Ling, E.D., Shutsky, L.. Hart, L., and Pizzorno, M.C. Localization of the Human Cytomegalovirus Tegument Protein pp150 When Fused to Green Fluorescent Protein. Arch. Virol. (submitted July 2001)

Shubert, M.A., Pizzorno, M.C., and Nyquist S.E. (2001). Caveolin and Flotillin Content of Rat Testis Peritubular Myoid Cells and Detergent-Insoluble Glycosphingolipid-Enriched Membrane Fractions (DIGS) From These Cells, p 195-201. In B. Robaire, H. Chemes, and C.R. Morales (eds.), Andrology in the 21st Century, Proceedings of the VIIth International Congress of Andrology.

Pizzorno, M.C. (2001). Nuclear Cathepsin B-Like Protease Cleaves Transcription Factor YY1 in Differentiated Cells. Biochim. et Biophys. Acta 1536:31-42.

Y.-N Chang, K.-T. Jeang, C.-J. Chiou, Y.-J. Chan, M.C. Pizzorno and G. S. Hayward. 1993. Identification of a Large Bent DNA Domain and Binding Sites for Serum Response Factor Adjacent to the NFI-Repeat Cluster and Enhancer Region in the Major IE94 Promoter from Simian Cytomegalovirus. J. Virol. 67:516-529.