UL49 is an essential subunit of the viral pre-initiation complex that regulates human cytomegalovirus gene transcription

Summary: More than half the world’s population is infected with human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), causing congenital birth defects and impacting the immuno-compromised. Many of the >170 HCMV genes remain uncharacterized, and this gap in knowledge limits the development of novel antivirals. In this st...

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Main Authors: Declan L. Turner, Svenja Fritzlar, Sara Sadeghipour, Adele A. Barugahare, Brendan E. Russ, Stephen J. Turner, Rommel A. Mathias
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2022-10-01
Series:iScience
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004222014407
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author Declan L. Turner
Svenja Fritzlar
Sara Sadeghipour
Adele A. Barugahare
Brendan E. Russ
Stephen J. Turner
Rommel A. Mathias
author_facet Declan L. Turner
Svenja Fritzlar
Sara Sadeghipour
Adele A. Barugahare
Brendan E. Russ
Stephen J. Turner
Rommel A. Mathias
author_sort Declan L. Turner
collection DOAJ
description Summary: More than half the world’s population is infected with human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), causing congenital birth defects and impacting the immuno-compromised. Many of the >170 HCMV genes remain uncharacterized, and this gap in knowledge limits the development of novel antivirals. In this study, we investigated the essential viral protein UL49 and found it displayed leaky late expression kinetics, and localized to nuclear replication compartments. Cells infected with mutant UL49 virus were unable to produce infectious virions and phenocopied other beta-gamma viral pre-initiation complex (vPIC) subunit (UL79, UL87, UL91, UL92, and UL95) mutant infections. RNA-seq analysis of vPIC mutant infections revealed a consistent diminution of genes encoding capsid subunits, including TRX2/UL85 and MCP/UL86, envelope glycoproteins gM, gL and gO, and egress-associated tegument proteins UL99 and UL103. Therefore, as a member of the vPIC, UL49 serves as a fundamental HCMV effector that governs viral gene transcription required to complete the replication cycle.
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spelling doaj.art-d3d3183e099843a985101a7dec9804bf2022-12-22T03:49:09ZengElsevieriScience2589-00422022-10-012510105168UL49 is an essential subunit of the viral pre-initiation complex that regulates human cytomegalovirus gene transcriptionDeclan L. Turner0Svenja Fritzlar1Sara Sadeghipour2Adele A. Barugahare3Brendan E. Russ4Stephen J. Turner5Rommel A. Mathias6Infection and Immunity Program, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, and Department of Microbiology, Monash University, 23 Innovation Walk, Clayton, VIC 3800, AustraliaInfection and Immunity Program, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, and Department of Microbiology, Monash University, 23 Innovation Walk, Clayton, VIC 3800, AustraliaInfection and Immunity Program, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, and Department of Microbiology, Monash University, 23 Innovation Walk, Clayton, VIC 3800, AustraliaInfection and Immunity Program, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, and Department of Microbiology, Monash University, 23 Innovation Walk, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia; Monash Bioinformatics Platform, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, AustraliaInfection and Immunity Program, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, and Department of Microbiology, Monash University, 23 Innovation Walk, Clayton, VIC 3800, AustraliaInfection and Immunity Program, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, and Department of Microbiology, Monash University, 23 Innovation Walk, Clayton, VIC 3800, AustraliaInfection and Immunity Program, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, and Department of Microbiology, Monash University, 23 Innovation Walk, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University, 23 Innovation Walk, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia; Corresponding authorSummary: More than half the world’s population is infected with human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), causing congenital birth defects and impacting the immuno-compromised. Many of the >170 HCMV genes remain uncharacterized, and this gap in knowledge limits the development of novel antivirals. In this study, we investigated the essential viral protein UL49 and found it displayed leaky late expression kinetics, and localized to nuclear replication compartments. Cells infected with mutant UL49 virus were unable to produce infectious virions and phenocopied other beta-gamma viral pre-initiation complex (vPIC) subunit (UL79, UL87, UL91, UL92, and UL95) mutant infections. RNA-seq analysis of vPIC mutant infections revealed a consistent diminution of genes encoding capsid subunits, including TRX2/UL85 and MCP/UL86, envelope glycoproteins gM, gL and gO, and egress-associated tegument proteins UL99 and UL103. Therefore, as a member of the vPIC, UL49 serves as a fundamental HCMV effector that governs viral gene transcription required to complete the replication cycle.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004222014407Molecular biologyvirologytranscriptomics
spellingShingle Declan L. Turner
Svenja Fritzlar
Sara Sadeghipour
Adele A. Barugahare
Brendan E. Russ
Stephen J. Turner
Rommel A. Mathias
UL49 is an essential subunit of the viral pre-initiation complex that regulates human cytomegalovirus gene transcription
iScience
Molecular biology
virology
transcriptomics
title UL49 is an essential subunit of the viral pre-initiation complex that regulates human cytomegalovirus gene transcription
title_full UL49 is an essential subunit of the viral pre-initiation complex that regulates human cytomegalovirus gene transcription
title_fullStr UL49 is an essential subunit of the viral pre-initiation complex that regulates human cytomegalovirus gene transcription
title_full_unstemmed UL49 is an essential subunit of the viral pre-initiation complex that regulates human cytomegalovirus gene transcription
title_short UL49 is an essential subunit of the viral pre-initiation complex that regulates human cytomegalovirus gene transcription
title_sort ul49 is an essential subunit of the viral pre initiation complex that regulates human cytomegalovirus gene transcription
topic Molecular biology
virology
transcriptomics
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004222014407
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