title: Herpesvirus papio encodes a functional homologue of the Epstein-Barr virus apoptosis suppressor, BHRF1.
abstract: The human tumour virus Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) encodes a 17 kDa protein, BHRF1, which is a member of the BCL:-2 family and has been shown to suppress apoptosis. The role of this gene in the life-cycle of EBV has not been fully elucidated. In order to identify motifs conserved in herpesviruses and possibly shed light on its function we isolated a BHRF1 homologue from herpesvirus papio (cercopithecine herpesvirus-12) a closely related gammaherpesvirus of baboons. The gene, hvpBHRF1, also encodes a 17 kDa protein which shares 64% identity and 79% similarity with EBV BHRF1 at the amino acid level. In biological assays, hvpBHRF1 and BHRF1 conferred similar levels of protection on human keratinocytes induced to apoptose with cis-platin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, Paterson Institute for Cancer Research, Christie Hospital NHS Trust, Wilmslow Road, Withington, Manchester M20 9BX, UK.
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Meseda
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Arrand
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mackett
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D010215:Papio / Q000821:virology*; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000737:chemistry; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D018139:Simplexvirus / Q000235:genetics*; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: C083278:BHRF1 protein, Human herpesvirus 4; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D014764:Viral Proteins