title: Herpes simplex virus type 2 membrane protein UL56 associates with the kinesin motor protein KIF1A.
abstract: The herpes simplex virus UL56 gene product is a C-terminal-anchored, type II membrane protein of unknown function. UL56 was found to interact with KIF1A, a member of the kinesin-3 family, in a yeast two-hybrid screen and a GST pull-down assay. KIF1A mediates the transport of synaptic vesicle precursors and is essential for the function and viability of neurons. When overexpressed, KIF1A co-localized with full-sized UL56, but no clear co-localization was observed when co-expressed with the UL56 mutant protein lacking its C-terminal transmembrane domain (TMD). Although the C-terminal TMD was not essential for the interaction with KIF1A in the yeast two-hybrid screen and GST pull-down assays, these results indicate that the C-terminal TMD, as well as aa 69-217, of UL56 are important for the interaction with KIF1A in vivo. The hypothesis that the UL56 protein affects vesicular trafficking in infected cells, potentially by acting as a receptor for motor proteins in neurons, is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya University, 65 Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8550, Japan.
authors.forename: Tetsuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Koshizuka
authors.affiliation: PRESTO, Japan Science and Technology Agency, 4-1-8 Honcho Kawaguchi, Saitama, Japan.|Department of Virology, Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya University, 65 Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8550, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasushi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kawaguchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya University, 65 Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8550, Japan.
authors.forename: Yukihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nishiyama
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D018258:Herpesvirus 2, Human / Q000378:metabolism*; D016547:Kinesins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D008164:Luminescent Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D009474:Neurons / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D020798:Two-Hybrid System Techniques; D014709:Vero Cells; D015003:Yeasts
chemical_list: C094065:KIF1A protein, human; D008164:Luminescent Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D016547:Kinesins