Neither LAT nor open reading frame P mutations increase expression of spliced or intron-containing ICP0 transcripts in mouse ganglia latently infected with herpes simplex virus.

ABSTRACT: Latent infections by herpes simplex virus are characterized by repression of productive-cycle gene expression. Several hypotheses to explain this repression involve inhibition of expression of the immediate-early gene activator ICP0 during latency. To address these hypotheses, we developed quantitative reverse transcriptase-PCR assays that detected spliced and intron-containing ICP0 transcripts in mouse ganglia latently infected with wild-type virus. In these ganglia, the numbers of spliced ICP0 transcripts correlated better with the numbers of transcripts from the immediate-early gene encoding ICP4 than with those from the early gene encoding thymidine kinase. There were fewer spliced than intron-containing ICP0 transcripts on average, with considerable ganglion-to-ganglion variation. We

SUBMITTER: Chen SH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC136172 | biostudies-literature | 2002 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature