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Journal of Virology, January 2009, p. 859-869, Vol. 83, No. 2
0022-538X/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.01630-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Homodimerization of Marek's Disease Virus-Encoded Meq Protein Is Not Sufficient for Transformation of Lymphocytes in Chickens {triangledown}

Paulette F. Suchodolski,1,{dagger} Yoshihiro Izumiya,2,{dagger} Blanca Lupiani,1 Dharani K. Ajithdoss,3 Oren Gilad,2 Lucy F. Lee,4 Hsing-Jien Kung,2 and Sanjay M. Reddy1*

Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843,1 UC Davis Cancer Center, UC Davis Health System, Sacramento, California 95817,2 Department of Poultry Science, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843,3 Avian Disease and Oncology Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, East Lansing, Michigan 488234

Received 30 July 2008/ Accepted 21 October 2008

Marek's disease virus (MDV), the etiologic agent of Marek's disease, is a potent oncogenic herpesvirus. MDV is highly contagious and elicits a rapid onset of malignant T-cell lymphomas in chickens within several weeks after infection. MDV genome codes an oncoprotein, Meq, which shares resemblance with the Jun/Fos family of bZIP transcription factors. Similar to Jun, the leucine zipper region of Meq allows the formation of homo- and heterodimers. Meq homo- and heterodimers have different DNA binding affinities and transcriptional activity; therefore, they may differentially regulate transcription of viral and cellular genes. In this study we investigated the role of Meq homodimers in the pathogenicity of MDV by generating a chimeric meq gene, which contains the leucine zipper region of the yeast transcription factor GCN4 (meqGCN). A recombinant virus (rMd5-MeqGCN) containing the chimeric meqGCN gene in place of parental meq was generated with overlapping cosmid clones of Md5, a very virulent MDV strain. The rMd5-MeqGCN virus replicated in vitro and in vivo but was unable to transform T cells in infected chickens. These data provide the first in vivo evidence that Meq homodimers are not sufficient for MDV-induced transformation.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, MS 4467, 206 VMR, Bldg. 1197, College Station, TX 77843. Phone: (979) 458-0658. Fax: (979) 862-1088. E-mail: sreddy{at}cvm.tamu.edu

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 29 October 2008.

{dagger} P.S. and Y.I. contributed equally to this study.

Journal of Virology, January 2009, p. 859-869, Vol. 83, No. 2
0022-538X/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.01630-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Brown, A. C., Smith, L. P., Kgosana, L., Baigent, S. J., Nair, V., Allday, M. J. (2009). Homodimerization of the Meq Viral Oncoprotein Is Necessary for Induction of T-Cell Lymphoma by Marek's Disease Virus. J. Virol. 83: 11142-11151 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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