Prevalence and abundance of latently transcribed varicella-zoster virus genes in human ganglia.

ABSTRACT: In human ganglia latently infected with varicella-zoster virus (VZV), sequence analysis has revealed that five viral genes (VZV genes 21, 29, 62, 63, and 66) are transcribed. However, their comparative prevalence and abundance are unknown. Here, using real-time PCR, we analyzed 28 trigeminal ganglia from 14 humans for RNA corresponding to the five virus genes known to be transcribed in latently infected human ganglia. The most prevalent transcript found was VZV gene 63 (78%), followed by gene 66 (43%), gene 62 (36%), and gene 29 (21%). No gene 21 transcripts were detected in any of the 28 ganglia. VZV gene 63 RNA was also the most abundant (3,710 +/- 6,895 copies per 1 microg of mRNA) transcript detected in latently infected human ganglia, followed by VZV gene 29 (491 +/- 594), VZV gene 66

SUBMITTER: Cohrs RJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1866015 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature