Professor Michelle West
Head of School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Professor of Tumour Virology
School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences
Queen Mary University of London
Research
Epstein-Barr Virus, Transcription, epigenetics, cancer, structural biology, drug discovery
Interests
Mechanisms of Epstein-Barr Virus B cell transformation and its role in cancer development. Transcriptional regulation by the EBV transcription factors, EBNA2, 3A, 3B and 3C. Enhancer-promoter interactions and 3D chromatin reorganisation. Impact of sequence variation on the structure and function of EBV proteins, including the latent replication factor EBNA 1. Structure-led drug discovery of inhibitors of EBNA1 for the development of new therapeutics.
Publications
Publications of specific relevance to the Centre for Molecular Cell Biology
2026
RUNX1 aberrations in blast-phase chronic myeloid leukaemia induce the RNA-binding protein SPATS2L, which promotes growth, survival and stress granule assemblyPalmer DA Ogilvie-Park D Muir AL Craig R Sevim O Stott L Kakkar A Lewis P et al.
Leukemia,
Springer Nature, 1-13.
09-10-2026 2025
Repression of CADM1 transcription by HPV type 18 is mediated by three-dimensional rearrangement of promoter-enhancer interactionsCampos-León K Ferguson J Günther T Wood CD Wingett SW Pekel S Varghese CS Jones LS et al.
Plos Pathogens,
Public Library of Science (Plos) vol. 21 (1)
27-01-20252024
A Shared Receptor Suggests a Common Ancestry between an Insecticidal Bacillus thuringiensis Cry Protein and an Anti-Cancer ParasporinBryce-Sharron N Nasiri M Powell T West MJ Crickmore N
Biomolecules,
Mdpi vol. 14 (7)
04-07-2024 2022
Regulation of B cell receptor signalling by Epstein–Barr virus nuclear antigensKhasnis S Veenstra H McClellan MJ Ojeniyi O Wood CD West MJ
Biochemical Journal,
Portland Press vol. 479 (23), 2395-2417.
07-12-2022 Dissecting the impact of bromodomain inhibitors on the Interferon Regulatory Factor 4‐MYC oncogenic axis in multiple myelomaAgnarelli A Mitchell S Caalim G Wood CD Milton‐Harris L Chevassut T West MJ Mancini EJ
Hematological Oncology,
Wiley vol. 40 (3), 417-429.
18-05-2022 Probing the Mechanism of Action of Cry41Aa on HepG2 through the Establishment of a Resistant SublineSouissi W Alistair T Domanska B Fortea E West MJ Schwartz J-L Crickmore N
Toxins,
Mdpi vol. 14 (5)
29-04-2022 2019
Differential proteolytic activation of the Bacillus thuringiensis Cry41Aa parasporin modulates its anticancer effect.Souissi W Kaloki A Etherington S Domanska B West MJ Crickmore N
Biochemical Journal,
Portland Press vol. 476 (24), 3805-3816.
23-12-2019 Increased association between Epstein-Barr virus EBNA2 from type 2 strains and the transcriptional repressor BS69 restricts EBNA2 activityPonnusamy R Khatri R Correia PB Wood CD Mancini EJ Farrell PJ West MJ
Plos Pathogens,
Public Library of Science (Plos) vol. 15 (7)
08-07-2019 The role of membrane-bound metal ions in toxicity of a human cancer cell-active pore-forming toxin Cry41Aa from Bacillus thuringiensisDomanska B Fortea E West MJ Schwartz J-L Crickmore N
Toxicon,
Elsevier vol. 167, 123-133.
07-06-2019 2018
Disruption of CTCF-YY1–dependent looping of the human papillomavirus genome activates differentiation-induced viral oncogene transcriptionPentland I Campos-León K Cotic M Davies K-J Wood CD Groves IJ Burley M Coleman N et al.
Plos Biology,
Public Library of Science (Plos) vol. 16 (10)
25-10-2018 Enhancer Control of MicroRNA miR-155 Expression in Epstein-Barr Virus-Infected B CellsWood CD Carvell T Gunnell A Ojeniyi OO Osborne C West MJ
Journal of Virology,
American Society For Microbiology vol. 92 (19), 10.1128/jvi.00716-10.1128/jvi.00718.
12-09-2018 Pumilio directs deadenylation-associated translational repression of the cyclin-dependent kinase 1 activator RGC-32Brocard M Khasnis S Wood CD Shannon-Lowe C West MJ
Nucleic Acids Research,
Oxford University Press (OUP) vol. 46 (7)
27-01-2018 2016
MYC activation and BCL2L11 silencing by a tumour virus through the large-scale reconfiguration of enhancer-promoter hubsWood CD Veenstra H Khasnis S Gunnell A Webb HM Shannon-Lowe C Andrews S Osborne CS et al.
,
Elife vol. 5
04-08-2016 1994
Precipitation of the Epstein—Barr virus protein EBNA 2 by an EBNA 3c-specific monoclonal antibodyMaunders MJ Petti L Rowe M
Journal of General Virology,
Microbiology Society vol. 75 (4), 769-778.
01-04-1994
Research Group
