title: Effects of SUMO-1 upon Epstein-Barr virus BZLF1 function and BMRF1 expression.
abstract: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a human herpesvirus that has infected at least 90% of the world population. This very successful virus causes infectious mononucleosis and is associated with many different types of cancer. The EBV BZLF1 protein is a transcription factor that has also been shown to interact with many host cell proteins and pathways. BZLF1 (Z) is tagged by the small ubiquitin-related modifier-1 (SUMO-1) protein. Here, we present studies of the functional consequences of SUMO-1 modification of Z. We found that SUMO-1 modification of Z has no apparent effect upon the stability and localization of the Z protein. We did find, however, that SUMO-1 modification decreases the transactivation activity of Z on specific promoters. In addition, when SUMO-1 is supplied to cells when lytic replication is induced, EBV BMRF1 levels greatly increase, suggesting that SUMO-1 enhances EBV lytic replication. Therefore, SUMO-1 modification of proteins appears to have an important role in EBV lytic replication.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27402, USA. aladamso@uncg.edu
authors.forename: Amy L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Adamson
mesh_terms: D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D025842:SUMO-1 Protein / Q000502:physiology*; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000502:physiology*; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; C063676:BZLF1 protein, Herpesvirus 4, Human; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C083204:Epstein-Barr virus early antigen diffuse component; D025842:SUMO-1 Protein; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014764:Viral Proteins