Moriah Szpara

Associate Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Biology

Moriah Szpara

Research Summary

How genetic variation influences the outcomes of viral infection, particularly for neurotropic viruses such as herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) and HSV-2, using high-throughput sequencing, comparative genomics, neuronal cultures, and genetic manipulation of both host and pathogen.

Huck Graduate Students

Huck Affiliations

Links

Publication Tags

Human Herpesvirus 1 Viruses Genome Genes Simplexvirus Neurons Interferons Infection Herpesviridae Viral Genome Infections Cells Virulence Genomics Human Alphaherpesvirus 1 Virus Diseases Phenotype Population Dna In Vitro Techniques Genetic Variation Resistance Galaxies Transcriptome Interferon

Most Recent Papers

Genome sequence of the virulent model herpes simplex virus 1 strain McKrae demonstrates the presence of at least two widely used variant strains

Daniel W. Renner, Lance Parsons, Jacob T. Shreve, Esteban A. Engel, Chad V. Kuny, Lynn Enquist, Donna Neumann, Colleen Mangold, Moriah L. Szpara, 2021, Microbiology Resource Announcements

Viral infection of human neurons triggers strain-specific differences in host neuronal and viral transcriptomes

Colleen A. Mangold, Molly M. Rathbun, Daniel W. Renner, Chad V. Kuny, Moriah L. Szpara, 2021, PLoS Pathogens

A holistic perspective on herpes simplex virus (HSV) ecology and evolution

Molly M. Rathbun, Moriah L. Szpara, 2021, on p. 27-57

Alphaherpesvirus genomics

Chad V. Kuny, Moriah L. Szpara, 2021, Current Issues in Molecular Biology on p. 41-80

Interferon-independent STING signaling promotes resistance to HSV-1 in vivo

Lívia H. Yamashiro, Stephen C. Wilson, Huntly M. Morrison, Vasiliki Karalis, Jing Yi J. Chung, Katherine J. Chen, Helen S. Bateup, Moriah L. Szpara, Angus Y. Lee, Jeffery S. Cox, Russell E. Vance, 2020, Nature Communications

Alphaherpesvirus Genomics: Past, Present and Future.

Moriah Szpara, 2020, on p. 41-80

In vitro evolution of herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) reveals selection for syncytia and other minor variants in cell culture

Chad V. Kuny, Christopher D. Bowen, Daniel W. Renner, Christine M. Johnston, Moriah L. Szpara, 2020, Virus Evolution

In vitro evolution of herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) reveals selection for syncytia and other minor variants in cell culture

Chad Kuny, Christopher Bowen, Daniel Renner, Christine Johnston, Moriah Szpara, 2020, Virus Evolution

Oligonucleotide Enrichment of HSV-1 Genomic DNA from Clinical Specimens for Use in High-Throughput Sequencing

Mackenzie M. Shipley, Molly M. Rathbun, Moriah L. Szpara, 2020, on p. 199-217

Viral Genetic Diversity and Its Potential Contributions to the Development and Progression of Neonatal Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) Disease

Lisa N. Akhtar, Moriah L. Szpara, 2019, Current Clinical Microbiology Reports on p. 249-256

Most-Cited Papers

Differentiation of the SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cell line

Mackenzie M. Shipley, Colleen A. Mangold, Moriah L. Szpara, 2016, Journal of Visualized Experiments

Evolution and diversity in human herpes simplex virus genomes

Moriah L. Szpara, Derek Gatherer, Alejandro Ochoa, Benjamin Greenbaum, Aidan Dolan, Rory J. Bowden, Lynn W. Enquist, Matthieu Legendre, Andrew J. Davison, 2014, Journal of Virology on p. 1209-1227

Impacts of genome-wide analyses on our understanding of human herpesvirus diversity and evolution

Daniel W. Renner, Moriah L. Szpara, 2018, Journal of Virology

Interferon-independent STING signaling promotes resistance to HSV-1 in vivo

Lívia H. Yamashiro, Stephen C. Wilson, Huntly M. Morrison, Vasiliki Karalis, Jing Yi J. Chung, Katherine J. Chen, Helen S. Bateup, Moriah L. Szpara, Angus Y. Lee, Jeffery S. Cox, Russell E. Vance, 2020, Nature Communications

Rapid genome assembly and comparison decode intrastrain variation in human alphaherpesviruses

Lance R. Parsons, Yolanda R. Tafuri, Jacob T. Shreve, Christopher D. Bowen, Mackenzie M. Shipley, L. W. Enquist, Moriah L. Szpara, 2015, mBio on p. e02213--14

A phylogenomic analysis of Marek's disease virus reveals independent paths to virulence in Eurasia and North America

Jakob Trimpert, Nicole Groenke, Maria Jenckel, Shulin He, Dusan Kunec, Moriah L. Szpara, Stephen J. Spatz, Nikolaus Osterrieder, Dino P. McMahon, 2017, Evolutionary Applications on p. 1091-1101

VirAmp: A galaxy-based viral genome assembly pipeline

Yinan Wan, Daniel W. Renner, Istvan Albert, Moriah L. Szpara, 2015, GigaScience

Viral forensic genomics reveals the relatedness of classic herpes simplex virus strains KOS, KOS63, and KOS79

Christopher D. Bowen, Daniel W. Renner, Jacob T. Shreve, Yolanda Tafuri, Kimberly M. Payne, Richard D. Dix, Paul R. Kinchington, Derek Gatherer, Moriah L. Szpara, 2016, Virology on p. 179-186

Inferred father-to-son transmission of herpes simplex virus results in near-perfect preservation of viral genome identity and in vivo phenotypes

Utsav Pandey, Daniel W. Renner, Richard L. Thompson, Moriah L. Szpara, Nancy M. Sawtell, 2017, Scientific Reports on p. 13666

Differentiated human SHSY5Y cells provide a reductionist model of herpes simplex virus 1 neurotropism

Mackenzie M. Shipley, Colleen A. Mangold, Chad V. Kuny, Moriah L. Szpara, 2017, Journal of Virology

News Articles Featuring Moriah Szpara

Mar 29, 2021

Exploring variations in herpes virus symptoms

Why do some people with cold sores around their lips experience painful lesions, while others have no symptoms at all, yet still spread the virus? A new study conducted at Penn State finds that these differences could be due to variations in the way certain strains of herpes simplex (HSV-1) — the virus that causes cold sores, as well as genital herpes — activate gene expression in neurons.

Full Article

Mar 29, 2021

Penn State virologist Szpara to co-host COVID-19 vaccine education town halls

Moriah Szpara, associate professor of biology and of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State, will co-host two COVID-19 vaccine education town halls at 7 p.m. EST on Wednesday, March 31, and Wednesday, April 7, with Benhur Lee of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Full Article

May 26, 2020

New Design Helps N95 Mask Wearers Breathe Easier

Wearing high-grade filter masks can help protect against the novel coronavirus. But after a few hours, these tight-fitting devices can also make it really hard to breathe. N95 respirators, for example, are famously good at blocking viral particles—but they can also reduce the amount of available oxygen by up to 20 percent. Now some Stanford University researchers are addressing this problem with a portable device that pumps pure O2 directly to the wearer.

Full Article

Apr 22, 2020

New decontamination protocol permits reuse of N95 respirators

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a shortage of personal protective equipment, including “N95” respirators, needed by frontline healthcare providers. A new protocol using aerosolized hydrogen peroxide to decontaminate N95 respirators could allow them to be safely reused in some hospital settings, where the disinfectant is already being used for other decontamination purposes.

Full Article