title: Identification and control of the cis-acting elements of the immediate early gene of equid herpesvirus type 1.
abstract: Consensus cis-acting DNA sequences upstream of the immediate early (IE) gene of equid herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1, strain Ab4) were identified. One copy of the conserved motif TAATGARATTC, which is the binding site for the host cellular factor Oct-1 and herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) virion protein, VmW65, complex, was identified at positions -630 to -620. Using transient transfections and chloramphenicol acetyltransferase assays the IE promoter of EHV-1 was shown to be trans-activated by VmW65 within the region -685 to +73. Ultraviolet light-inactivated EHV-1 was able to stimulate the expression of the IE gene of EHV-1 as well as HSV-1, indicating that EHV-1 possesses a protein equivalent to VmW65. The ubiquitous equid herpesvirus type 2 (EHV-2), which is not known to be a primary pathogen, was also able to trans-activate the EHV-1 and HSV-1 IE genes. Further work is being performed in order to identify the nature of the EHV-1 and EHV-2 trans-activating proteins.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Pathology, Royal Veterinary College, London, U.K.
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Purewal
authors.forename: A V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Smallwood
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kaushal
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Adegboye
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Edington
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D016384:Consensus Sequence; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral; D006564:Herpesviridae / Q000235:genetics*; D006736:Horses / Q000382:microbiology*; D017874:Immediate-Early Proteins; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012045:Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid / Q000235:genetics*; D015533:Transcriptional Activation; D014162:Transfection; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: C050678:IE1 protein, Human herpesvirus 1; D017874:Immediate-Early Proteins; D014764:Viral Proteins