ORF45, a multifunctional immediate early and tegument protein of KSHV

Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is the etiological agent of several human diseases, including Kaposi sarcoma, primary effusion lymphoma, and a subset of multicentric Castleman's disease. KSHV uses its gene products to manipulate many aspects of the host responses during its life cycles. Among KSHV-encoded proteins, ORF45 is unique in both temporal and spatial expression: it is expressed as an immediate-early gene product and is an abundant tegument protein contained in the virion. ORF45 is specific to the gammaherpesvirinae subfamily but the homologs share only very limited homology and differ dramatically in protein length. In the past two decades, we and others have shown that ORF45 plays critical roles in immune evasion, viral replication, and virion assembly by targeting various host and viral factors. Herein, we summarize our current knowledge of ORF45 throughout the KSHV life cycle. We discuss the cellular processes targeted by ORF45 with emphasis on the modulation of host innate immune responses and rewiring the host signaling through impacting three major posttranslational modifications: phosphorylation, SUMOylation, and ubiquitination.