title: Herpes glycoprotein gL is distantly related to chemokine receptor ligands.
abstract: Glycoprotein L (gL) is one of the critical proteins involved in transmission of Herpesviridae. We applied the methodology of protein structure prediction to shed a light on the so far unknown molecular mechanism of its action. Here we show that gL forms a chemokine-like protein. Alphaherpesvirinae gL as well as CMV functional homolog (UL130) create a novel CX chemokine-like protein, while Gammaherpesvirinae gL (HHV8 and EBV) adopt a regular CC beta-chemokine fold. We conclude that gL may interact with specific cellular chemokine receptors during the invasion of Herpesviridae. The proposed mechanism has a potential impact on future development of novel therapeutic and prophylactic strategies.
authors.affiliation: Bioinfobank Institute, ul. Limanowskiego 24A, 60-744 Poznań, Poland. lucjan@bioinfo.pl
authors.forename: Lucjan S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Wyrwicz
authors.forename: Leszek
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rychlewski
mesh_terms: D020816:Amino Acid Motifs; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D003545:Cysteine / Q000737:chemistry; D030541:Databases, Genetic; D030562:Databases, Protein; D004220:Disulfides / Q000737:chemistry; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D006564:Herpesviridae / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D008024:Ligands; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D019707:Receptors, Chemokine / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D020539:Sequence Analysis, Protein; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004220:Disulfides; D006023:Glycoproteins; D008024:Ligands; D019707:Receptors, Chemokine; D014764:Viral Proteins; D003545:Cysteine