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UL146 variability among clinical isolates of human cytomegalovirus from Japan

Francisco Aguayo1, Tsugiya Murayama, Yoshito Eizuru

  • 1Molecular Pathology and Epidemiology laboratory, Centro de Investigaciones Médicas, Faculty of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile. faguayo@med.uchile.cl

Biological Research
|April 29, 2011
PubMed

Insights

The Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) UL146 gene shows high variability in Japanese clinical isolates. This hypervariability suggests diverse functions among different HCMV sequence groups.

Area of Science:

  • Virology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a herpesvirus causing severe illness in immunocompromised individuals.
  • The ULb' region, including the UL146 gene, is often deleted in lab strains but conserved in virulent HCMV.
  • The UL146 gene encodes a CXC-chemokine analogue.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the genetic diversity of the UL146 gene in clinical HCMV isolates from Japan.
  • To understand the implications of UL146 gene variability on its function.

Main Methods:

  • Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of the UL146 gene from 56 clinical HCMV isolates.
  • DNA sequencing of amplified UL146 gene fragments.
  • Comparative analysis of DNA and amino acid sequences to determine variability and identify functional motifs.

Main Results:

  • Successful amplification of UL146 was achieved in 30% of strains; UL145/UL147 in 32%.
  • Sequencing revealed 8 distinct groups with UL146 DNA variability from 25.1% to 52.9% and amino acid variability from 34.5% to 67%.
  • Seven groups possessed the interleukin-8 (IL-8) ERL CXC motif, while one group only had the CXC motif, indicating a potential loss of IL-8 function.

Conclusions:

  • The UL146 gene in HCMV clinical strains from Japan exhibits significant hypervariability.
  • This genetic diversity suggests that UL146 may have distinct functions depending on the specific sequence group.
  • Further research is needed to elucidate the functional implications of UL146 hypervariability in HCMV pathogenesis.

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