title: Enhancerless cytomegalovirus is capable of establishing a low-level maintenance infection in severely immunodeficient host tissues but fails in exponential growth.
abstract: Major immediate-early transcriptional enhancers are genetic control elements that act, through docking with host transcription factors, as a decisive regulatory unit for efficient initiation of the productive virus cycle. Animal models are required for studying the function of enhancers paradigmatically in host organs. Here, we have sought to quantitatively assess the establishment, maintenance, and level of in vivo growth of enhancerless mutants of murine cytomegalovirus in comparison with those of an enhancer-bearing counterpart in models of the immunocompromised or immunologically immature host. Evidence is presented showing that enhancerless viruses are capable of forming restricted foci of infection but fail to grow exponentially.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Virology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University, Hochhaus am Augustusplatz, 55131 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Podlech
authors.forename: Rares
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pintea
authors.forename: Kai A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Kropp
authors.forename: Annette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fink
authors.forename: Niels A W
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Lemmermann
authors.forename: Katja C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Erlach
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Isern
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Angulo
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ghazal
authors.forename: Matthias J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Reddehase
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D004742:Enhancer Elements, Genetic; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D016867:Immunocompromised Host; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D016513:Mice, SCID