title: A Viral Pilot for HCMV Navigation?
abstract: gH/gL virion envelope glycoprotein complexes of herpesviruses serve as entry complexes and mediate viral cell tropism. By binding additional viral proteins, gH/gL forms multimeric complexes which bind to specific host cell receptors. Both Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) express alternative multimeric gH/gL complexes. Relative amounts of these alternative complexes in the viral envelope determine which host cells are preferentially infected. Host cells of EBV can modulate the gH/gL complex complement of progeny viruses by cell type-dependent degradation of one of the associating proteins. Host cells of HCMV modulate the tropism of their virus progenies by releasing or not releasing virus populations with a specific gH/gL complex complement out of a heterogeneous pool of virions. The group of Jeremy Kamil has recently shown that the HCMV ER-resident protein UL148 controls integration of one of the HCMV gH/gL complexes into virions and thus creates a pool of virions which can be routed by different host cells. This first mechanistic insight into regulation of the gH/gL complex complement of HCMV progenies presents UL148 as a pilot candidate for HCMV navigation in its infected host.
authors.affiliation: Max von Pettenkofer-Institute for Virology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Pettenkoferstrasse 9a, 80336 Munich, Germany. adler_b@mvp.uni-muenchen.de.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Adler
mesh_terms: D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000821:virology*; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral; D006801:Humans; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014764:Viral Proteins
keywords: UL148; gH/gL glycoprotein complexes; human cytomegalovirus; virus navigation