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Updated: Aug 26, 2026

Amplification, Next-generation Sequencing, and Genomic DNA Mapping of Retroviral Integration Sites
Published on: March 22, 2016
Chromosomal integration of HHV-6A during non-productive viral infection
Nitish Gulve1, Celina Frank1, Maximilian Klepsch1
1Biocenter, Chair of Microbiology, University of Würzburg, 97074, Würzburg, Germany.
Abstract:
Human herpesvirus 6A (HHV-6A) and 6B (HHV-6B) are two different species of betaherpesviruses that integrate into sub-telomeric ends of human chromosomes, for which different prevalence rates of integration have been reported. It has been demonstrated that integrated viral genome is stable and is fully retained. However, study of chromosomally integrated viral genome in individuals carrying inherited HHV-6 (iciHHV-6) showed unexpected number of viral DR copies. Hence, we created an in vitro infection model and studied retention of full or partial viral genome over a period of time. We observed an exceptional event where cells retained viral direct repeats (DRs) alone in the absence of the full viral genome. Finally, we found evidence for non-telomeric integration of HHV-6A DR in both cultured cells and in an iciHHV-6 individual. Our results shed light on several novel features of HHV-6A chromosomal integration and provide valuable information for future screening techniques.
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