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The Marek's disease virus (MDV) protein encoded by the UL17 ortholog is essential for virus growth

Najat Chbab1, Danièle Chabanne-Vautherot, Annick Francineau

  • 1Laboratoire de Virologie Moléculaire, Nouzilly, France - Institute of Virology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

Veterinary Research
|March 17, 2009
PubMed

Insights

Marek's disease virus type 1 (MDV-1) requires a functional UL17 gene for replication. This study shows MDV-1 pUL17 protein is essential for viral growth and localizes to the nucleus, but its nuclear import is dependent on other viral factors.

Area of Science:

  • Virology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Cell Biology

Background:

  • Marek's disease virus type 1 (MDV-1) primarily spreads through cell-to-cell contact.
  • MDV-1 exhibits impaired nuclear egress in cell culture, necessitating investigation into intranuclear capsid maturation.
  • UL17 orthologs are crucial for herpesvirus capsid maturation and DNA packaging, but MDV-1 pUL17 function remains uncharacterized.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To characterize the role of the Marek's disease virus type 1 UL17 gene (MDV-1 pUL17) in viral replication.
  • To investigate the function of MDV-1 pUL17 in capsid maturation and nuclear localization.
  • To identify viral factors responsible for the nuclear import of MDV-1 pUL17.

Main Methods:

  • Creation of MDV-1 UL17 deletion and point mutants to assess gene function.
  • C-terminal HA-tagging of MDV-1 pUL17 for protein characterization.
  • Immunofluorescence microscopy to determine protein localization and colocalization with viral proteins (VP5, VP13/14).
  • Expression of tagged proteins using cytomegalovirus IE promoter to study nuclear distribution.

Main Results:

  • A functional UL17 open reading frame (ORF) is indispensable for MDV-1 growth.
  • MDV-1 pUL17 is an 82 kDa protein localized to the nucleus, colocalizing with major capsid protein VP5 and tegument protein VP13/14.
  • Nuclear distribution of MDV-1 pUL17 is not an intrinsic property and appears to be mediated by other viral proteins, though no tested tegument proteins could relocate it.

Conclusions:

  • The UL17 gene is essential for Marek's disease virus type 1 replication.
  • MDV-1 pUL17 plays a critical role in nuclear events of the viral lifecycle.
  • The nuclear import of MDV-1 pUL17 is dependent on viral factors, highlighting a complex regulatory mechanism for nuclear localization.

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