J Gen Virol
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Published online ahead of print on 4 March 2009 as doi:10.1099/vir.0.007971-0
Journal of General Virology 2009;90:1190.

A more recent version of this article appeared on May 1, 2009 J Gen Virol (2009), DOI 10.1099/vir.0.007971-0
© 2009 Society for General Microbiology
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (Papers in Press[PDF])
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
vir.0.007971-0v1
90/5/1190    most recent
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Wang, L.
Right arrow Articles by Schulz, T. F.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Wang, L.
Right arrow Articles by Schulz, T. F.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Wang, L.
Right arrow Articles by Schulz, T. F.

Identification and functional characterization of a spliced rhesus rhadinovirus gene with homology to the K15 gene of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus

Linding Wang1, Marcel Pietrek2, Melanie M. Brinkmann3, Anika Hävemeier2, Irina Fischer2, Bernd Hillenbrand2, Oliver Dittrich-Breiholz2, Michael Kracht4, Simon Chanas5, David J. Blackbourn5 and Thomas F. Schulz2,6

1 State Key Laboratory of Virology, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Science;
2 Medical School Hannover;
3 Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research;
4 Justus-Liebig-University Giessen;
5 CRUK Institute for Cancer Studies, University of Birmingham

6 E-mail: schulz.thomas{at}mh-hannover.de

Rhesus monkey rhadinovirus (RRV) is a gamma-2 herpesvirus related to the human Kaposi?s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) or human herpesvirus 8 (HHV8). We have identified an alternatively spliced gene at the right side of the RRV genome (strain 17577) between ORF75 and the terminal repeat region (TR). Of its 8 exons, the first 7 encode up to 12 transmembrane domains while the 8th exon encodes a predicted C-terminal cytoplasmic domain. Structurally and positionally this RRV gene therefore resembles the K15 gene of KSHV; provisionally, we name it RK15 to avoid confusion with other RRV17577 genes. In ectopic expression studies, the 55 kDa RK15 protein isoform activated JNK and NF-{kappa}B pathways, like the 45 kDa KSHV K15-encoded protein isoform. In contrast to K15, which activates angiogenic and inflammatory cytokines such as IL8, IL6 and CCL20, the range of cellular transcripts activated by the RRV K15 homologue is much more restricted, but includes IL6, IL8 and FGF21. These data suggest functional differences between terminal membrane proteins at the right end of the genomes of Old World primate gamma-2 herpesviruses.

Received 16 October 2008; accepted 12 January 2009.




HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH
INT J SYST EVOL MICROBIOL MICROBIOLOGY J GEN VIROL
J MED MICROBIOL ALL SGM JOURNALS
Copyright © 2009 by the Society for General Microbiology.