Targeting the JMJD2 histone demethylases to epigenetically control herpesvirus infection and reactivation from latency.

ABSTRACT: Chromatin and the chromatin modulation machinery not only provide a regulatory matrix for enabling cellular functions such as DNA replication and transcription but also regulate the infectious cycles of many DNA viruses. Elucidation of the components and mechanisms involved in this regulation is providing targets for the development of new antiviral therapies. Initiation of infection by herpes simplex virus (HSV) requires the activity of several cellular chromatin modification enzymes including the histone demethylases LSD1 and the family of JMJD2 proteins that promote transcriptional activation of the initial set of viral genes. Depletion of the JMJD2 members or inhibition of their activity with a new drug results in repression of expression of viral immediate early genes and abrogation o

SUBMITTER: Liang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4778723 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature