Murine cytomegalovirus major immediate-early protein 3 interacts with cellular and viral proteins in viral DNA replication compartments and is important for early gene activation.

ABSTRACT: Murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) immediate-early protein 3 (IE3) is essential for successful viral infection. This study developed MCMVs with an EGFP-fused IE3 gene in order to study IE3 gene expression, subnuclear distribution and biological function, as well as to examine the interaction of IE3 with cellular and viral proteins. The generated viruses included MCMVIE3gfp, in which IE1 was completely removed by the in-frame fusion of exons 3 and 5 and the C terminus of IE3 was tagged with EGFP, and MCMVIE1/3gfp, in which IE1 was kept intact and EGFP was also fused to the C terminus of IE3. Unlike human CMV (HCMV), whose growth was significantly reduced when IE2 (the HCMV homologue of IE3 in MCMV) was tagged with EGFP, MCMVs with IE3-EGFP presented an unchanged replication profile. Using these

SUBMITTER: Martinez FP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3052557 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature