Dr. Carolyn Machamer is a highly respected cell biologist known for her extensive research on viruses and the secretory pathway.
She is a Professor Emerita in the Department of Cell Biology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, USA.
Dr. Machamer's research has primarily focused on the structure and function of the Golgi complex and the assembly and egress mechanisms of enveloped viruses, particularly coronaviruses (CoVs).
Key areas of her work include:
- Coronavirus Assembly: She studies the unusual way coronaviruses, such as the avian Infectious Bronchitis Virus (IBV) and SARS-CoV-2 (which causes COVID-19), assemble their progeny by budding into the endoplasmic reticulum-Golgi intermediate compartment (ERGIC).
- Viral Egress: Her lab investigates how these viruses, once assembled, exit the infected cell, a process that is often challenging due to the large size of the virions. Her work has shown that for some coronaviruses, the envelope (E) protein neutralizes the pH of the Golgi lumen, which is critical for their efficient escape from the cell.
- Golgi Complex: She has studied the targeting and function of resident Golgi proteins, including the role of proteins like golgin-160 in Golgi structure, vesicle trafficking, and apoptosis (programmed cell death).
Dr. Machamer's research has provided fundamental insights into how these major human pathogens interact with and manipulate the host cell's machinery to survive and spread.
