Welcome to the International AIDS Society-USA Core Faculty

Research Topics

HIV entry
Retrovirus assembly

Lecture and Writing Topics

HIV entry and envelope glycoprotein-mediated cell fusion
Retrovrius assembly – basic concepts, drug discovery

Current Professional Summary

Dr Hunter is a Professor of Microbiology and Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He has served as Director of the UAB Center for AIDS Research for the past 12 years. Dr Hunter teaches courses in virology to both graduate and professional students.

Committees and Organizations

Member, American Society of Virology
Member, International Society for Antiviral Research
Member, American Association for Cancer Research
Member, American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Chair, Research Committee, Governor of Alabama's Commission on AIDS

Honors and Awards

Editor-in-Chief, AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses (2000–)
Associate Editor, Virology (1985–)
Recipient of three National Institutes of Health MERIT Awards

Education

University of Birmingham, England, Bacteriology, BSc with Honors (1989)
Imperial Cancer Research Fund & Brunel University of England, Tumor Immunology, PhD (1972)
University of Southern California, Postdoctoral Fellow, RNA Tumor Viruses (1972–1976)

Selected Publications

Sakalian M, Parker SD, Weldon RA Jr, Hunter E. Synthesis and assembly of retrovirus gag precursors into immature capsids in vitro. J Virol. 1996;70:3706-3715.
Weldon RA Jr, Parker WB, Sakalian M, Hunter E. Type D retrovirus capsid assembly and release are active events requiring ATP. J Virol. 1998;72:3098-3106.
Yasuda J, Hunter E. A proline-rich motif (PPPY) in the Gag polyprotein of Mason-Pfizer monkey virus plays a maturation-independent role in virion release. J Virol. 1998;72:4095-4103.
Salzwedel K, West KT Jr, Mulligan MJ, Hunter E. Retention of the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein in the endoplasmic reticulum does not redirect virus assembly from the plasma membrane. J Virol. 1998;72:7523-7531.
Kilby JM, Hopkins S, Venetta TM, DiMassimo B, Cloud GA, Lee JY, Alldredge L, Hunter E, Lambert D, Bolognesi D, Matthews T, Johnson MR, Nowak MA, Shaw GM, Saag MS. Potent suppression of HIV-1 replication in humans by T-20, a peptide inhibitor of gp41-mediated virus entry. Nat Med. 1998;4:1302-1307.
Salzwedel K, West JT, Hunter E. A conserved tryptophan-rich motif in the membrane-proximal region of the HIV-1 gp41 ectodomain is important for Env-mediated fusion and virus infectivity. J Virol. 73:2469-2480.
Choi G, Park S, Choi B, Hong S, Lee J, Hunter E, Rhee S. Identification of a cytoplasmic targeting/retention signal in a retroviral Gag Polyprotein. J Virol. 1999;73:5431-5437.
Rumlova-Klikova M, Pichova I, Hunter E, Ruml T. Conditions resulting in formation of properly assembled retroviral capsids within inclusion bodies of Escherichia coli. Collect Czech Chem Commun. 1999;64:1348-1356.
Derdeyn CA, Decker JM, Sfakianos JN, Wu X, O'Brien WA, Ratner L, Kappes JC, Shaw GM, Hunter E. Sensitivity of HIV-1 to the fusion inhibitor T-20 is modulated by coreceptor specificity defined by the V3 loop of gp120. J Virol. 2000;74:8358-8367.
Piller SC, Dubay JW, Derdeyn CA, Hunter E. Mutational analysis of conserved domains within the cytoplasmic tail of gp-41 from HIV-1: effects on glycoprotein incorporation and infectivity. J Virol. 2000;74:11717-11723.