title: Promyelocytic leukemia-nuclear body proteins: herpesvirus enemies, accomplices, or both?
abstract: The promyelocytic leukemia (PML) protein gathers other cellular proteins, such as Daxx and Sp100, to form subnuclear structures termed PML-nuclear bodies (PML-NBs) or ND10 domains. Many infecting viral genomes localize to PML-NBs, leading to speculation that these structures may represent the most efficient subnuclear location for viral replication. Conversely, many viral proteins modify or disrupt PML-NBs, suggesting that viral replication may be more efficient in the absence of these structures. Thus, a debate remains as to whether PML-NBs inhibit or enhance viral replication. Here we review and discuss recent data indicating that for herpesviruses, PML-NB proteins inhibit viral replication in cell types where productive, lytic replication occurs, while at the same time may enhance the establishment of lifelong latent infections in other cell types.
authors.affiliation: University of Wisconsin-Madison, Institute for Molecular Virology & McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research, Madison, WI, USA Tel.: +1 608 265 5546; ; rtsaffert@wisc.edu.
authors.forename: Ryan T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Saffert
authors.forename: Robert F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Kalejta