• USciences: Founder’s Day ‘Faculty Award of Merit’ (2019)
• USciences: Million Dollar Grantee (2018)
• Travel Award, Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (2014)
• Travel Award, Keystone: HIV-1 Pathogenesis (2012)
• ICAAC Young Investigator Award, American Society for Microbiology (2011)

• American Society of Microbiology
• International Society of Neurovirology
• Presbyterian Association for Science, Technology and the Christian Faith

Visit the Klase Lab.

Dr. Klase’s research focuses on the study of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) the causative agent of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). HIV presents an interesting challenge for two reasons: 1) The virus integrates into the genome of the host cell and can persist for decades, and 2) the viral genome is relatively small, thus requiring the virus to co-opt various cellular processes to be successful.

RUNX Transcription Factors and HIV-1 Latency

Current therapies are capable of blocking viral replication, preventing new infection and decreasing viral load in the blood to undetectable levels. However therapy does not represent a cure, as it does not clear the integrated proviral DNA. HIV infects CD4+ T-cells with a preference for memory T-cells. As memory T-cells are extremely long-lived, an infected memory cell can potentially carry a silent copy of the virus throughout a patient’s lifetime and has the potential to restart an active infection after drug therapy ceases. We call this phenomenon latency. A major portion of the lab’s time is devoted to studying how the RUNX family of transcription factors contributes to latency and how prescription benzodiazepines might be used to alter HIV-1 transcription

HIV-1 and RNA Interference

RNA interference (RNAi) can potentially exert antiviral pressure within a cell. It also represents a very powerful system for controlling gene expression with a cell. As such, it represents a compelling target for a virus to subvert in order to alter host cell gene expression and tune the cellular environment for optimal viral replication. The HIV-1 transcription activator protein Tat has been shown to bind to the RNAi protein Dicer and inhibit the biogenesis of microRNA. The lab studies how Tat may be altering microRNA expression in astrocytes, packaging into exosomes in the CNS, and what role this plays in the neuropathogenesis of HIV-1.

Substance User Disorders and HIV-1

There is, unfortunately, a large overlap between HIV-1 infected individuals and people who abuse drugs. Our main two interests have brought us naturally into this arena. Many of the miRNA that we see dysregulated by the viral Tat protein seem to have a role to play in neuropathogenesis, and we are now studying how these changes are further affected by the presence of opioids. In working with various compounds to address the problem of latency, it has become apparent that many drugs of abuse can be a confounding factor. Long-term exposure to narcotics or street drugs can even change the way our DNA is packaged in the cell. We are actively working to define how this affects the integrated virus and whether this could be part of (or a barrier to) an eventual cure for HIV.

Delta-plus and lambda variants don’t yet warrant panic for vaccinated people, Philly experts say
Philadelphia Inquirer (August 4, 2021)

How genetic surveillance can fight COVID-19 variants
KYW Newsradio (April 20, 2021)

Additional articles...

Recent Publications

“Innate immune memory in chronic HIV and HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND): potential mechanisms and clinical implications”
Capriotti Z, Klase Z
Journal of Neurovirology. 2024;30(5-6):451-476

“Adult Human Brain Tissue Cultures to Study NeuroHIV”
Van Duyne R, Irollo E, Lin A, Johnson JA, Guillem AM, O'Brien EV, Merja L, Nash B, Jackson JG, Sarkar A, Klase ZA, Meucci O
Cells. 2024;13(13):1127

“Insights Into Persistent HIV-1 Infection and Functional Cure: Novel Capabilities and Strategies”
Ta TM, Malik S, Anderson EM, Jones AD, Perchik J, Freylikh M, Sardo L, Klase ZA, Izumi T
Frontiers in Microbiology. 2022;13:862270

“Alprazolam Prompts HIV-1 Transcriptional Reactivation and Enhances CTL Response Through RUNX1 Inhibition and STAT5 Activation”
Lin A, Elbezanti WO, Schirling A, Ahmed A, Van Duyne R, Cocklin S, Klase Z
Frontiers in Neurology. 2021;12:663793

“CD8+ T-Cell Mediated Control of HIV-1 in a Unique Cohort With Low Viral Loads”
Jones AD, Khakhina S, Jaison T, Santos E, Smith S, Klase ZA
Frontiers in Microbiology. 2021;12:670016

Additional publications...

Invited Lectures

“Substances of abuse and HIV-1 cure: Implications for neuropathogenesis”
University of the Sciences, Department of Biological Sciences, January 2020

“Drugs of Abuse and HIV-1 Chromatin Structure”
George Mason University, National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases, September 2018

“Drugs of Abuse and HIV-1 cure: Implications for Neuropathogenesis”
Neuro Infectious Disease Interest Group, NINDS/NIH, April 2017

“Mechanisms of Zika Virus Neuropathogenesis”
Zika Symposa, University of the Sciences and Atheric Pharmaceuticals, August 2016

“HIV-1 Tat inhibition of miRNA”
Drexel University College of Medicine, Institute for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Disease, October 2015