University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill · Microbiology & ImmunologyMoorman Lab
Nathaniel J Moorman · Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Research Focus
Dr. Nathaniel J. Moorman's lab studies how human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) affects the way human cells make proteins. When HCMV infects a cell, it seems to boost the overall protein production, but the lab is uncovering that this process is more complicated than it looks. They explore how specific cellular and viral factors interact to regulate which viral and cellular proteins are produced during infection. This research could lead to new therapies for HCMV by targeting how the virus manipulates cell biology.
HCMVprotein synthesiscellular translationmRNA regulationviral infectiontranslation machineryhost-pathogen interactionprotein biosynthesistherapeuticsbiochemistry
Research Aims
5AIM 01Investigate how HCMV affects cellular protein synthesis machinery
AIM 02Identify novel host and viral factors involved in mRNA translation
AIM 03Determine the mechanisms by which specific mRNAs are regulated during infection
AIM 04Explore the role of translation initiation complexes in HCMV replication
AIM 05Uncover new potential therapeutic targets for HCMV treatment.
Skills the Lab Values
RNA sequencingproteomicscell cultureWestern blotmolecular cloningPCRmicroscopyvirus propagationbioinformaticshelicase assays
Output against the department
Publications219top 29% of dept.139th of 486
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations5.3kbottom 39% of dept.296th of 486
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.