Phosphorylation of herpes simplex virus type 1 Us11 protein is independent of viral genome expression

✍ Scribed by Denis Simonin; Jean-Jacques Diaz; Karine Kindbeiter; Patrick Pernas; Dr. Jean-Jacques Madjar

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1995
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 631 KB
• Volume: 16
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0173-0835
• DOI: 10.1002/elps.11501601216

✦ Synopsis

Phosphorylation of herpes simplex virus type 1 Us11 protein is independent of viral genome expression

The Us11 protein is a true late gene product of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-I), whose exact function is unknown but which exhibits RNA-binding properties and which is phosphorylated on serine residues. In order to determine whether the Us11 protein is phosphorylated by cellular kinase(s) or by virally encoded kinase(s), the Us11 gene has been cloned and transiently expressed in HeLa cells. In addition, HeLa-derived cell lines have been selected for their ability to express Us1 1 protein constitutively. 32P-Labeling and analysis by two-dimensional electrophoresis of transiently and constitutively expressed Us1 1 protein demonstrated that, indeed, multiple phosphorylation of the protein occurs in absence of HSV-1 genome expression, indicating that the protein behaves as a natural substrate for cellular kinase(s). In addition, a sequence heterogeneity of the Us11 protein, due to a difference in the number of SPREPR repeats, has been characterized between different strains of HSV-1.