Raw sequence reads for "Complex roles for proliferating cell nuclear antigen in restricting human cytomegalovirus replication"
Genome synthesis is a critical step of virus life cycles and a major target of antiviral drugs. Human cytomegalovirus, like other herpesviruses, encodes machinery sufficient for viral DNA synthesis and relies on host factors for efficient replication. We have shown that host DNA repair factors play important roles in HCMV replication, but our understanding of this is incomplete. Building on previous findings that specialized host DNA polymerases contribute to HCMV genome integrity and diversity, we sought to determine the importance of PCNA, the central polymerase regulator. PCNA associates with nascent viral DNA and restricts HCMV replication. While PCNA is dispensable for genome integrity, it contributes to genome diversity. Our findings suggest that host polymerases function on viral genomes by separable PCNA-dependent and -independent mechanisms. Through revealing complex roles for PCNA in HCMV replication, this study expands the repertoire of host DNA synthesis and repair proteins hijacked by this ubiquitous herpesvirus.