Parker Sperstad


Parker Sperstad
  • Postdoc, Holmstrom Lab

Contact Info

3007 Haworth

Biography

Hometown:  Essexville, Michigan

Education

Ph.D. in Biochemistry & Biophysics, University of Kansas, 2024
B.S. in Biochemistry, Ferris State University, 2018, Big Rapids, Michigan

Research

My work in the Holmstrom has been focused on 3′X, which is a 98-nucleotide long sequence found at the 3′ terminus of the hepatitis C virus’ RNA genome. This noncoding RNA sequence has been shown to be essential for the proliferation of the virus and appears to regulate several processes throughout viral replication. Our previous work has employed single-molecule Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) to study the first 55 nucleotides, which can adopt two distinct conformations in isolation as well as dimerize. Having established how this truncated form of 3′X responds to environmental conditions (i.e., solution conditions and RNA concentration), we have begun investigating how the full 98-nucleotide long sequence of 3′X impacts its conformation distribution and dimerization process. Additionally, our group has begun studying other portions of the HCV genome and how they interact with 3′X, modulating its regulatory roles.

Selected Publications

  1. Sperstad PD, Holmstrom ED. Conformational dynamics of the hepatitis C virus 3'X RNA. RNA. 2024 Aug 16;30(9):1151-1163. doi: 10.1261/rna.079983.124. PMID: 38834242; PMCID: PMC11331413.
  2. Voth LS, O'Connor JJ, Kerr CM, Doerger E, Schwarting N, Sperstad P, Johnson DK, Fehr AR. Unique Mutations in the Murine Hepatitis Virus Macrodomain Differentially Attenuate Virus Replication, Indicating Multiple Roles for the Macrodomain in Coronavirus Replication. J Virol. 2021 Jul 12;95(15):e0076621. doi: 10.1128/JVI.00766-21. Epub 2021 Jul 12. PMID: 34011547; PMCID: PMC8274620.
  3. Voth LS, O'Connor JJ, Kerr CM, Doerger E, Schwarting N, Sperstad P, Johnson DK, Fehr AR. Unique Mutations in the Murine Hepatitis Virus Macrodomain Differentially Attenuate Virus Replication, Indicating Multiple Roles for the Macrodomain in Coronavirus Replication. J Virol. 2021 Jul 12;95(15):e0076621. doi: 10.1128/JVI.00766-21. Epub 2021 Jul 12. PMID: 34011547; PMCID: PMC8274620.