Arthur R. Frampton

I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology and Marine Biology. My primary research is focused on understanding mechanisms of viral pathogenesis and cancer cell biology. I have been broadly trained in the areas of Cell and Molecular Biology, Microbiology, Immunology, Cancer Biology, and Virology. As a graduate student, I helped to develop a mouse model for the study of equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) pathogenesis and showed how two virus glycoproteins, gI and gE, contribute to neurologic disease. While an assistant professor, I discovered that EHV-1 uses a cell entry receptor that is separate from the other known alphaherpesvirus receptors. Over the past 10 years, the Frampton lab has established a very productive research collaboration with the Varadarajan lab in the Chemistry Department here at UNCW. The main goal of this collaborative effort is to design and test compounds against various cancer cell types. Dr. Varadarajan and his research group synthesize small, alkylating molecules that are designed to target and kill cancer cells. Our lab applies these novel anti-cancer compounds to various human cancer cells and assess their ability to selectively destroy cancer cells while minimizing toxicity on normal cells. We have shown that we can effectively target human glioblastoma brain and hormone sensitive breast cancer cells with these molecules by targeting glucose transporters and the estrogen receptor, respectively. Our current NIH-funded research is focused on generating and testing new molecules that are specifically targeted to human prostate cancer cells.

Education

B.S. in Cell Biology, University of Tennessee
Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, Louisiana
Postdoctoral Fellow, Virology and Gene Therapy, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Specialization in Teaching

I teach Cell Biology, Virology, Senior Seminar, Honors 110, and 210 seminars, and mentor undergraduate and graduate students in Directed Independent Studies (BIO 491 and 591), Internships (BIO 498), Honors (BIO 499), and Research and Theses (BIO 598 and BIO 599) work. Students are heavily involved in my research and I have been very fortunate to attract highly motivated and bright students to my lab. The opportunity to mentor and train these young scientists is one of the most rewarding parts of my job here at UNCW. I feel that it is critically important that students interested in the sciences learn how to do science in an actual research lab environment as learning how to do “bench work”, critically analyze/interpret data, and draw conclusions from their work is instrumental in the development of an independent scientist.
BIO 201 Principles of Biology: Cells
BIO 435 Virology
BIO 495 Senior Seminar:100 Years of Discovery: Biomedical Breakthroughs of the 20th Century
BIO 495 Senior Seminar: Emerging and Re-emerging Viruses
BIO 491 Directed Independent Study
BIO 499 Honors Thesis
BIO 498 Internship in Biological Sciences
BIO 591 Directed Independent Study
BIO 598 Research
BIO 599 Masters Thesis
HON 110: Biomedical Research and Ethics in the Genomics Era
HON 110: The Science and Ethics of Gain of Function (GOF) Research
HON110: Cancer therapies: past, present, and future
HON 120: Ripped from the Headlines: Viruses in the News
HON 210: HIV/AIDS in science and art: from outbreak to globalization and complacency
HON 210: When Science Goes Bad: Scientific Ethics in Life and Literature
HON 210: Viruses and Viral Narratives
HON 210: Pandemic Cultures

Research Interests

One area of investigation has involved the development and characterization of equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) as an oncolytic agent. For this project, we have examined the ability of EHV-1 to infect, replicate in, and lyse multiple human glioma brain cancer cell lines. Results from our studies show that EHV-1 efficiently infects and kills glioblastoma cells and we also identified that the virus uses the MHC-1 receptor, which our lab was the first to show serves as an EHV-1 entry receptor. Most recently in this area, my former Masters student Jenny Black published her MS work in 2023 where she identified specific anti-inflammatory drugs that are most effective at reducing the expression of EHV-1-induced pro-inflammatory cytokines. This work generated new knowledge that will help guide veterinarians as they decide which anti-inflammatories to prescribe to horses that are infected with EHV-1. During the Covid-19 pandemic our research group tested wastewater for SARS-CoV-2 and we developed methods for tracking the virus spatiotemporally and gained a clearer picture of the state of the pandemic in our local communities. Our data was reported weekly on the NC Covid-19 Dashboard. Recently, we obtained from the NIH to test novel compounds for their ability to selectively kill prostate cancer cells. This grant supports multiple undergraduates and graduate students. Dr. Varadarajan’s group is synthesizing novel, anti-cancer compounds that are targeted to prostate cancer cells that overexpress the androgen receptor, and our research team is testing these compounds to assess their selective toxicity on multiple prostate cancer cells.

Professional Service

I have served as the Pre-Health advisor and the New Hanover Pender-Gottovi Medical Society Pre-Med Scholarship faculty coordinator. In my capacity as Pre-Health advisor I have written many letters of recommendation for our Pre-Health students that are included in their application packet to professional and graduate programs. Additionally, I have presented pre-health information sessions frequently over the past five years wherein I give advice to students that are pursuing careers in the health sciences.
At the College and University level, I have served in a variety of ways. During the Covid-19 pandemic, in addition to our wastewater screening efforts, I also served as a communicable disease mandatory employee and was a member of the UNCW Covid Health and Safety Workgroup.
Recent activities included working with Drs. Erwin and Lopez-Legentil to organize and host the very successful North Carolina American Society for Microbiology (NCASM) meeting which was held at CMS on October 12, 2024. I also served as a University College and Honors College advisor and have provided tours of our research lab to HON 191 students each semester. In addition, I have also assisted University College with Summer orientation. In this role, I have helped students build their first semester course schedule.

Honors & Awards

Discere Aude, 2010
Chancellor’s Excellence in Teaching Award, 2021
Honors College Faculty Mentor Award, 2021.