Characterization of the murine cytomegalovirus genes encoding the major DNA binding protein and the ICP18.5 homolog

Abstract

In several herpesviruses the genes for the major DNA binding protein (MDBP), a putative assembly protein, the glycoprotein B (gB), and the viral DNA polymerase (pol) coliocate. In murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV), two members of this gene block, pol (Elliott, Clark, Jaquish, and Spector, 1991, Virology 185, 169-186) and gB (Rapp, Messerle, BOhler, Tannheimer, Keil, and Koszinowski, 1992, J. Virol., 66,4399-4406) have been characterized. Here the two other MCMV genes are characterized, the gene encoding the MDBP and the ICP18.5 homolog encoding a putative assembly protein. Like in human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) the genes order is pol, gB, ICP18.5, and MDBP. The 4.2-kb MDBP mRNA is expressed first in the early phase, whereas the 3.0-kb ICP18.5 mRNA is a late transcript. The open reading frame of the MDBP gene has the capacity of encoding a protein of 1191 amino acids with a predicted molecular mass of 131.7 kDa. The MCMV ICP18.5 ORF is translated into a polypeptide of 798 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass of 89.1 kDa. Comparison of the amino acid sequences of the predicted proteins of MCMV with the respective proteins of HCMV, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1) reveals a striking homology ranging from 72% (HCMV), 50% (EBV), to 45% (HSV-1) for the MDBP sequence and from 74% (HCMV), 51 % (EBV), to 49% (HSV-1) for the ICP18.5 sequence. These results establish the elose relationship of the two cytomegaloviruses, and underline the usefulness of the murine model for studies on the biology of the CMV infection.

Development of an Effective Polyvalent Vaccine against both Marek's and Newcastle Diseases Based on Recombinant Marek's Disease Virus Type 1 in Commercial Chickens with Maternal Antibodies

“…1C). The region includes putative promoter elements and TATA and CAT boxes (CAAT), as suggested by Ross et al Furthermore, a homologue of herpes simplex virus ICP18.5 was found in the upstream region, as reported for other alphaherpesviruses (4,26,27,40).…”

Identification and characterization of the bovine herpesvirus 1 UL7 gene and gene product which are not essential for virus replication in cell culture

“…Cytoplasmic RNA was isolated essentially as described previously (26). Glyoxal-treated RNA (5 g) was separated in 1% formaldehyde gels and transferred to nitrocellulose filters (22). To detect transcripts encompassing the UL7 ORF, the 506-bp SmaI-MluI fragment was eluted from the agarose gel after cleavage of pSub3 ( Fig.…”

Murine cytomegalovirus induces a Sj�gren's syndrome-like disease in C57Bl/6-lpr/lpr mice

“…Several studies have suggested an association between SS and, mainly, hepatitis C virus (7)(8)(9) and viruses of the herpes family, including Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) (10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) (1 6,17). Murine CMV (MCMV) has homology with certain regions of human CMV (20), and MCMV infection in mice exhibits a course of infection similar to that in humans with regard to the establishment of acute and chronic infection, viral persistency and latency, and the host immune response (21,22). Murine CMV (MCMV) has homology with certain regions of human CMV (20), and MCMV infection in mice exhibits a course of infection similar to that in humans with regard to the establishment of acute and chronic infection, viral persistency and latency, and the host immune response (21,22).…”