Nuclear localization and dynamic properties of the Marek's disease virus oncogene products Meq and Meq/vIL8.

ABSTRACT: Marek's disease virus (MDV) is an avian herpesvirus that causes T-cell lymphomas and immune suppression in susceptible chickens. At least one gene product, MDV Eco Q-encoded protein (Meq), is essential for the oncogenicity of MDV. Alternative splicing permits the meq gene to give rise to two major transcripts encoding proteins designated Meq and Meq/vIL8. Meq is a basic leucine zipper protein capable of modulating transcription. The Meq/vIL8 protein retains a modified leucine zipper, along with the mature receptor-binding portion of vIL8, but lacks the domain of Meq responsible for transcriptional modulation. In this report, we describe studies using fusions between either Meq or Meq/vIL8 and fluorescent proteins to characterize the distribution and properties of these products in chicken

SUBMITTER: Anobile JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1346918 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature