Dr Russell Diefenbach

Molecular Viral Transport and Assembly Group

• Research Interests
• Publications
• Contact Details

Dr Diefenbach is a Senior Research Fellow, Department of Medicine, University of Sydney and a National Health and Medical Research Council Senior Research Officer, based at Westmead Hospital. He graduated in Science with BSc Honours (First Class) from the University of Queensland in 1987 and went on to complete a PhD in Biochemistry at the same university in 1992. He embarked on postdoctoral studies overseas, spending time at the University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada (1991-1994).

He returned to Australia as a Research Fellow in the Biochemistry Department, University of Sydney (1995) before taking up his current appointment in 1996.

Research Interests

Dr Diefenbach has an interest in the mechanisms of herpes simplex virus (HSV) transport along the axons of nerve cells.

Transport down axons is mediated by the molecular motor kinesin which has been shown by his laboratory to interact with the HSV protein US11. This interaction is a novel target for new antiviral drugs.

Transport up axons is dependent on dynein, another molecular motor, and recent work has identified HSV protein VP26 as a dynein-binding protein important for viral capsid transport. This knowledge will lead to development of herpes simplex as a gene therapy vector.

Other studies include identification of cellular cargo for kinesin, transport of HIV during viral entry of host cells and the protein-protein interactions required for assembly of HSV.

Publications

- 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2002 - 1998 -

2008

• Diefenbach, R. J., Miranda-Saksena, M., Douglas, M. W., and Cunningham, A. L. (2008). Transport and egress of herpes simplex virus in neurons. Rev. Med. Virol. 18, 35-51. [Abstract]

2007

• Mijatov, B., Cunningham, A. L. and Diefenbach, R. J. (2007) Residues F593 and E596 of HSV-1 tegument protein pUL36 (VP1/2) mediate binding of tegument protein pUL37. Virology, 368, 26-31. [Abstract]

2006

• Cunningham, A, Diefenbach, R, Miranda-Saksena, M, Bosnjak, L, Kim, M, Jones, C, Douglas, M. The cycle of human herpes simplex virus infection: virus transport and immune control. The Journal of infectious diseases. 2006; 194 Suppl 1:S11-8 [Abstract]

2005

• Vittone, V, Diefenbach, E, Triffett, D, Douglas, M, Cunningham, A, Diefenbach, R. Determination of interactions between tegument proteins of herpes simplex virus type 1. Journal of virology. 2005; 79:9566-71 [Abstract]
• Bernhard, O, Diefenbach, R, Cunningham, A. New insights into viral structure and virus-cell interactions through proteomics. Expert Review of Proteomics. 2005; 2:577-88 [Abstract]
• Diefenbach, E, Cunningham, A, Diefenbach, R. Defining viral protein interactomes using the yeast two-hybrid assay. Current Proteomics. 2005; 2:225-231

2004

• Diefenbach, R, Diefenbach, E, Douglas, M, Cunningham, A. The ribosome receptor, p180, interacts with kinesin heavy chain, KIF5B. Biochemical and biophysical research communications. 2004; 319:987-92 [Abstract]
• Douglas, M, Diefenbach, R, Homa, F, Miranda-Saksena, M, Rixon, F, Vittone, V, Byth, K, Cunningham, A. Herpes simplex virus type 1 capsid protein VP26 interacts with dynein light chains RP3 and Tctex1 and plays a role in retrograde cellular transport. The Journal of biological chemistry. 2004; 279:28522-30 [Abstract]

2002

• Diefenbach, R, Miranda-Saksena, M, Diefenbach, E, Holland, D, Boadle, R, Armati, P, Cunningham, A. Herpes simplex virus tegument protein US11 interacts with conventional kinesin heavy chain. Journal of virology. 2002; 76:3282-91 [Abstract]
• Diefenbach, R, Diefenbach, E, Douglas, M, Cunningham, A. The Heavy Chain of Convention Kinesin Interacts with the SNARE Proteins SNAP25 and SNAP23. Biochemistry. 2002; 41:14906-14915 [Abstract]

1998

• Diefenbach, R.J., Mackay, J.P., Armati, P.J., and Cunningham, A.L. (1998) The C-terminal region of the stalk domain of ubiquitous human kinesin heavy chain contains the binding site for kinesin light chain. Biochemistry 37, 16663-16670. [Abstract]
  

Contact Details

T +61 2 9845 9111

F + 61 2 9845 9103

E russell_diefenbach@wmi.usyd.edu.au