title: Isolation and characterization of cynomolgus macaque (Macaca fascicularis) cytomegalovirus (CyCMV).
abstract: Cynomolgus macaques have been widely used as an animal model in preclinical biomedical research and are becoming more popular among HIV/SIV vaccine researchers. Here we report the isolation and characterization of a cytomegalovirus from cynomolgus macaques (CyCMV). CyCMV was isolated from a healthy captive-bred 4-year-old cynomolgus macaque of Filipino origin. The virus was identified by its characteristic growth properties in cell culture, ultrastructural morphology and sequence of viral DNA polymerase and glycoprotein B (gB). CyCMV gB shows 77% identity and 88% homology to rhesus cytomegalovirus (RhCMV) gB and 58% identity and 76% homology to human cytomegalovirus gB at the amino acid level. Phylogenetic analysis using known CMV gB protein sequences show that CyCMV is more closely related to RhCMV than to other primate CMVs. CyCMV down-regulates MHC class I expression on infected cells and we show that the colony-bred cynomolgus macaques have detectable CyCMV-specific humoral and cell-mediated immune responses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Aruna P N
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Ambagala
authors.forename: Angie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marsh
authors.forename: Jacqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pilon
authors.forename: Jocelyn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fournier
authors.forename: Tony
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mazzulli
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sandstrom
authors.forename: David O
authors.initials: DO
authors.lastname: Willer
authors.forename: Kelly S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: MacDonald
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D008252:Macaca fascicularis / Q000821:virology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D014776:Virus Cultivation
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D014764:Viral Proteins