Journal of General Virology, Vol 79, 2777-2784, Copyright © 1998 by Society for General Microbiology

ARTICLES

Characterization of the herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) US2 gene product and a US2-deficient HSV-2 mutant

YM Jiang, H Yamada, F Goshima, T Daikoku, S Oshima, K Wada and Y Nishiyama
Laboratory of Virology, Research Institute for Disease Mechanism and Control, Nagoya University School of Medicine, Japan.

The herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) US2 gene product was identified by using a rabbit polyclonal antiserum raised against a recombinant 6 x His-US2 fusion protein expressed in Escherichia coli. The antiserum reacted specifically with a 39 kDa protein in HSV-2 strain 186-infected cell lysates. The protein was not detectable in the presence of the virus DNA synthesis inhibitor phosphonoacetic acid. Indirect immunofluorescence studies localized the US2 protein in the cytoplasm and as discrete granules at late times post-infection within and at the periphery of the nucleus, and nuclear fractionation studies showed that the protein was partially associated with the nuclear matrix of infected cells. The protein was easily detected in purified virions. Also, a US2 insertion mutant was constructed which contained an ICP6- lacZ insertion in the US2 gene. This mutant was as virulent as wild- type virus in mice when inoculated by the footpad route. The importance of the US2 protein of HSV-2 in the virus life-cycle may be apparent only in the natural human host.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. Loret, G. Guay, and R. Lippe Comprehensive Characterization of Extracellular Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Virions J. Virol., September 1, 2008; 82(17): 8605 - 8618. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Y. Ushijima, T. Koshizuka, F. Goshima, H. Kimura, and Y. Nishiyama Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 UL56 Interacts with the Ubiquitin Ligase Nedd4 and Increases Its Ubiquitination J. Virol., June 1, 2008; 82(11): 5220 - 5233. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. G. Lyman, J. A. Randall, C. M. Calton, and B. W. Banfield Localization of ERK/MAP Kinase Is Regulated by the Alphaherpesvirus Tegument Protein Us2 J. Virol., July 15, 2006; 80(14): 7159 - 7168. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. C. Clase, M. G. Lyman, T. del Rio, J. A. Randall, C. M. Calton, L. W. Enquist, and B. W. Banfield The Pseudorabies Virus Us2 Protein, a Virion Tegument Component, Is Prenylated in Infected Cells J. Virol., November 15, 2003; 77(22): 12285 - 12298. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. Delhon, M. P. Moraes, Z. Lu, C. L. Afonso, E. F. Flores, R. Weiblen, G. F. Kutish, and D. L. Rock Genome of Bovine Herpesvirus 5 J. Virol., October 1, 2003; 77(19): 10339 - 10347. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. Ohsawa, D. H. Black, H. Sato, and R. Eberle Sequence and Genetic Arrangement of the US Region of the Monkey B Virus (Cercopithecine Herpesvirus 1) Genome and Comparison with the US Regions of Other Primate Herpesviruses J. Virol., February 1, 2002; 76(3): 1516 - 1520. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]