Donna Neumann, Ph.D. - LSUHSC School of Medicine

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	Donna Neumann, Ph.D. Assistant Research Professor of Ophthalmology Office: 504-568-3179 Email: dneum1@lsuhsc.edu
Degrees	Ph.D. - Organic chemistry
Research Interests	Research Interests: Epigenetic Modifications Regulating Ocular HSV-1 Latency and Reactivation Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) is a double-stranded DNA virus that, after the primary infection, enters the sensory neurons of the host and establishes a lifelong latent infection. Neurons harboring latent HSV-1 can reactivate periodically in response to a physical, emotional, or chemical stressor, and once reactivation has been initiated, the virus can replicate in the sensory ganglia, spread back to the periphery, and cause disease, specifically corneal scarring and irreversible blindness. During latency, the HSV-1 genome exists in sensory neurons as a circular episome associated with histones. The molecular mechanisms that govern the HSV-1 maintenance of latency and initiate reactivation of HSV-1 have not yet been well defined, making novel drug discovery for the treatment of recurrent ocular HSV-1 a challenging task. However, we have shown that epigenetic modifications play a critical role in not only the maintenance of HSV-1 latency, but in the reactivation process as well. Our lab has focused on the defining the epigenetic controls regulating HSV-1 latency and reactivation to allow the identification of specific target enzymes or pathways involved in chromatin remodeling associated with HSV-1 infections. Our overall goal is to identify new avenues for the discovery of novel treatments that minimize or eliminate recurrent episodes of ocular HSV-1.
Selected Publications	Bhattacharjee PS, Neumann DM, Foster TP, Clement C, Singh G, Thompson H, Kaufman HE, Hill JM. Effective treatment of ocular HSK with a human Apolipoprotein E mimetic peptide in a mouse eye model. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2008;49:4263-8. PMID: 18515564 Hill JM, Ball MJ, Neumann DM, Azcuy AM, Bhattacharjee PS, Bouhanik S, Clement C, Lukiw WJ, Foster TP, Kumar M, Kaufman HE, Thompson HW. The high prevalence of herpes simplex virus type 1 DNA in human trigeminal ganglia is not a function of age or gender. J Virol 2008; 82:8230-4. PMID: 18550674 Bhattacharjee PS, Neumann DM, Foster TP, Bouhanik S, Clement C, Vinay D, Thompson HW, Hill JM. Effect of human apolipoprotein E genotype on the pathogenesis of experimental ocular HSV-1. Exp Eye Res 2008;87:122-30. PMID: 18572164 Giordani NV, Neumann DM, Kwiatkowski DL, Bhattacharjee PS, McAnany PK, Hill JM, Bloom DC. During herpes simplex virus type 1 infection of rabbits, the ability to express the latency-associated transcript increases latent-phase transcription of lytic genes. J Virol 2008;82:6056-60. PMID: 18400860 Neumann DM, Bhattacharjee PS, Hill JM. Sodium butyrate: A chemical inducer of in vivo reactivation of herpes simplex virus type 1 in the ocular mouse model. J Virol 2007;81:6106-10. PMID: 17360760 Hill JM, Bhattacharjee PS, Neumann DM. Apolipoprotein E alleles can contribute to the pathogenesis of numerous clinical conditions including HSV-1corneal disease. Exp Eye Res 2007; 84:801-11. PMID: 17007837 Bhattacharjee PS, Neumann DM, Stark D, Thompson HW, Hill JM. Apolipoprotein E modulates establishment of HSV-1 latency and survival in a mouse ocular model. Curr Eye Res 2006;31:703-708. PMID: 17007837 Neumann DM, Bhattacharjee PS, Giordani NV, Bloom DC, Hill JM. In vivo changes in the patterns of chromatin structure associated with the latent herpes simplex virus type 1 genome in mouse trigeminal ganglia can be detected at early times after butyrate treatment. J Virol 2007;81:13248-53. PMID: 17881451 Majumdar S, Nashed YE, Patel K, Jain R, Itahashi M, Neumann DM, Hill JM, Mitra AK. Dipeptide monoester ganciclovir prodrugs for treating HSV-1 induced corneal epithelial and stromal keratitis: In vitro and in vivo evaluations. J Ocul Pharm Ther 2005;21:463-74. PMID: 16386088