JVI Figure table search 04
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Rodems, S. M.
Right arrow Articles by Spector, D. H.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Rodems, S. M.
Right arrow Articles by Spector, D. H.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Virology, November 1998, p. 9173-9180, Vol. 72, No. 11
0022-538X/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase Activity Is Sustained Early during Human Cytomegalovirus Infection

Steven M. Rodemsdagger and Deborah H. Spector*

Department of Biology and Center for Molecular Genetics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0357

Received 1 June 1998/Accepted 11 August 1998

Expression of many early viral genes during human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection is dependent on cellular transcription factors. Several immediate-early and early viral promoters contain DNA binding sites for cellular factors such as CREB, AP-1, serum response factor, and Elk-1, and these transcription factors can be activated by phosphorylation via the cellular mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signal transduction cascade. To determine if the extracellular signal-regulated MAPKs, ERK1 and ERK2, play a role in transcription factor activation during infection, we tested for ERK activity during viral infection. We found that HCMV infection resulted in the maintenance of previously activated ERK1 and ERK2 by a mechanism which appears to involve the inhibition of a cellular phosphatase activity. ERK phosphorylation and activity were sustained for at least 8 h after infection, whereas in mock-infected cells, ERK activity steadily declined by 1 h postinfection. The activity of at least one cellular substrate of the ERKs, the protein kinase RSK1, was also maintained during this period. UV inactivation experiments suggested that viral gene expression was required for sustained ERK activity. In turn, activation of the ERKs appeared to be important for viral gene expression, as evidenced by the observed decrease in the transcriptional activity of the HCMV UL112-113 promoter during infection in the presence of the MEK inhibitor PD98059. These data suggest that HCMV utilizes cellular signal transduction pathways to activate viral or cellular transcription factors involved in the control of early viral gene expression and DNA replication.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biology, 0357, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla, CA 92093-0357. Phone: (619) 534-9737. Fax: (619) 534-6083. E-mail: dspector{at}ucsd.edu.

dagger Present address: Aurora Biosciences Corporation, San Diego, CA 92121.

Journal of Virology, November 1998, p. 9173-9180, Vol. 72, No. 11
0022-538X/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:



Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
J. Bacteriol. Mol. Cell. Biol. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev.
Clin. Vaccine Immunol. ALL ASM JOURNALS

Copyright © 1998 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.