We have two projects in my lab. The first project is focused on identifying evolutionarily conserved RNA secondary structures in the coronavirus RNA genome and functionally examining their role in viral replication through reverse genetic and biochemical approaches. We have previously done this for a number of RNA secondary structures contained within the 5? and 3? regions of the genome and shown that they function as cis-acting elements in replication. Studies in my laboratory have identified a structurally dynamic region of the 5'UTR that interacts with the 3'UTR to facilitate transcription.
A second project in my laboratory has been to develop a reverse genetic system for MHV-1. In collaboration with investigators in Toronto and Pennsylvania my laboratory has demonstrated that MHV-1 infection of susceptible mice provides a safe and convenient rodent model for severe coronavirus infections such as SARS and MERS. The development of a reverse genetic system will allow us to investigate the contributions of individual viral genes to the pathogenesis of the severe pulmonary disease caused by this virus.
- University of California, San Diego - (San Diego, California, United States), Postdoctoral Training 1979
- Ph.D. in Cell Biology, Montefiore Medical Center - (The Bronx, New York, United States) 1975
- M.D. in Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center - (The Bronx, New York, United States) 1975
- B.A. in Chemistry, Alfred University - (Alfred, New York, United States) 1968
Academic Articles136
- Bijalwan, M., Young, C. R., Tingling, J., Zhou, X. J., Rimmelin, A. R., Leibowitz, J. L., & Welsh, C. J. (2019). Characterization of Plaque-Sized Variants of Daniel's (DA) Strain in Theiler's Virus-Induced Epilepsy. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS. 9(1), 3444.
- McGruder, B., & Leibowitz, J. L. (2015). A review of genetic methods and models for analysis of coronavirus-induced severe pneumonitis. J Gen Virol. 96(Pt 3), 494-506.
- Yang, D., Liu, P., Wudeck, E. V., Giedroc, D. P., & Leibowitz, J. L. (2015). SHAPE analysis of the RNA secondary structure of the Mouse Hepatitis Virus 5 ' untranslated region and N-terminal nsp1 coding sequences. VIROLOGY. 475, 15-27.
- Yang, D., & Leibowitz, J. L. (2015). The structure and functions of coronavirus genomic 3 ' and 5 ' ends. Virus Res. 206, 120-133.
- Kaufman, G., Liu, P., & Leibowitz, J. L. (2014). Identification of novel functional regions within the spike glycoprotein of MHV-A59 based on a bioinformatics approach. Virus Res. 189, 177-188.
Chapters3
- Weiss, S. R., & Leibowitz, J. L. (2011). Chapter 4 - Coronavirus Pathogenesis. Adv Virus Res. Maramorosch, K., Shatkin, A. J., & Murphy, F. A. (Eds.), Advances in Virus Research. (pp. 85-164). Academic Press.
- Liu, P., & Leibowitz, J. (2010). RNA Higher-Order Structures Within the Coronavirus 5′ and 3′ Untranslated Regions and Their Roles in Viral Replication. Lal, S. K. (Eds.), Molecular Biology of the SARS-Coronavirus. (pp. 47-61). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
- Liu, P., Millership, J. J., Li, L., Giedroc, D. P., & Leibowitz, J. L. (2006). A previously unrecognized UNR stem-loop structure in the coronavirus 5' untranslated region plays a functional role in replication.. MECHANISMS IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF ENTERIC DISEASES 2. (pp. 25-30).
Conference Papers7
- OLESZAK, E. L., PERLMAN, S., PARR, R., COLLISSON, E. W., & LEIBOWITZ, J. L. (1993). MOLECULAR MIMICRY BETWEEN S-PEPLOMER PROTEINS OF CORONAVIRIDAE (MHV, BCV, TGEV AND IBV) AND FC RECEPTOR. JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY. 150(8), A88-A88.
- LAMPERT, P. W., FUJINAMI, R. S., RODRIGUEZ, M., LEIBOWITZ, J. L., & LANG, W. (1983). FURTHER-STUDIES ON THE PATHOGENESIS OF THEILERS MURINE ENCEPHALOMYELITIS. JOURNAL OF NEUROPATHOLOGY AND EXPERIMENTAL NEUROLOGY. 42(3), 326-326.
- CABIRAC, G. F., STRAYER, D. S., SELL, S., & LEIBOWITZ, J. L. (1983). INVESTIGATIONS ON THE IDENTITY OF MALIGNANT RABBIT FIBROMA VIRUS. Fed Proc. 42(4), 968-968.
- STRAYER, D. S., SELL, S., CABIRAC, G. F., SKALETSKY, E., SHARP, P., & LEIBOWITZ, J. L. (1982). INVITRO ANALYSIS OF IMMUNOSUPPRESSION IN RABBITS CAUSED BY THE MALIGNANT VARIANT OF SHOPE FIBROMA VIRUS. Immunobiology. 163(2-4), 235-236.
- LEIBOWITZ, J. L., DEVRIES, J. R., & ALEXANDER, C. (1981). A GENETIC-ANALYSIS OF MURINE HEPATITIS-VIRUS, STRAIN JHM. Fed Proc. 40(3), 763-763.
- BICH491 Hnr-research Instructor
- BICH491 Research Instructor
- GENE491 Hnr-research Instructor
- GENE491 Research Instructor
- MEID609 Introduction To Disease Instructor
- Hillman, Paul Randolph (2015-05). Analysis of Genomic Imprinting of UBE3A in Neurons. (Doctoral Dissertation)
- McGruder, Brenna Mariechen (2014-05). Potential Genetic Contributions to a Pneumopathogenic MHV-1 Virus: Analysis by Targeted Recombination and Whole Genome Sequencing in the MHV-1 Model of SARS-COV Lung Disease. (Doctoral Dissertation)
- Johnson, Reed Findley (2003-05). Characterization of the 3' terminal 42 nucleotide host protein binding element of the mouse hepatitis virus 3' untranslated region. (Doctoral Dissertation)