Disease relevance of UL38

• Sequence analysis of the UL39, UL38, and UL37 homologues of bovine herpesvirus 1 and expression studies of UL40 and UL39, the subunits of ribonucleotide reductase [1].
• We sequenced the region of the bovine herpesvirus type 1 (BHV-1) genome corresponding to map units 0.172-0.230 (7964 bp), representing the UL39, UL38, and UL37 homologues of herpes simplex virus which encode the large subunit of ribonucleotide reductase (RR) and components of the viral capsid and the tegument, respectively [1].
• The ORF described here corresponds to the ORF designated UL38 in the recently published nucleotide sequence of the HSV-1 UL region (D. J. McGeoch, M. A. Dalrymple, A. J. Davison, A. Dolan, M. C. Frame, D. McNab, L. J. Perry, J. E. Scott, and P. Taylor, J. Gen. Virol. 69:1531-1574, 1988) [2].
• Immunofluorescence for herpes simplex virus, varicella-zoster virus, and cytomegalovirus gave negative results in all cases, but 19 of 20 specimens showed intense nuclear staining in epithelial cells for the viral capsid antigen of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) [3].
• It is proposed that this interaction is important both for association of capsids with cell membrane to assemble and release enveloped particles and for dissociation of the capsid from the membrane of the newly infected cell on its way to the cell nucleus [4].

High impact information on UL38

• We mapped one essential domain to a conserved sequence at the VP1/2 carboxy terminus and demonstrated that this domain sufficient to redirect the green fluorescent protein to capsid assemblons in nuclei of infected cells [5].
• Starting with derivatives of pseudorabies virus that encode a fluorescent protein fused to a structural component of the virus, we have made a collection of 12 mutant viruses that lack either the VP26 capsid protein or an individual tegument protein [6].
• Close examination of Golgi membranes, rough endoplasmic reticulum, and outer nuclear membrane yielded capsid-membrane interaction of high identity to the budding process at the inner nuclear membrane [7].
• US11 is consistently cotransported with kinetics similar to those of the capsid protein VP5 into the axons of dissociated rat neurons, unlike the other tegument proteins VP16 and VP22 [8].
• Herpes simplex viral particles with pinwheel cores are rarely seen in cell culture, so this type of aberrant capsid appears to be associated mainly with VZV replication [9].

Biological context of UL38

• RESULTS: Serum antibody titres to EBV capsid antigen proved to be significantly increased in HIV negative immunocompromised patients with uveitis (p < 0.01) compared with controls [10].

Associations of UL38 with chemical compounds

• Under this experimental condition, virus-induced protein and glycoprotein began to appear 4 to 6 and 18 to 20 h after infection, respectively, and a capsid protein (MW 145,000) was prominent 18 h after injection [11].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of UL38

• Confocal microscopy of MDBK cells infected with recombinant bovine herpesvirus 1 expressing green fluorescent protein fused to VP26 (a minor capsid protein) revealed distortions of the nuclear surface in the course of viral multiplication [7].

References