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Journal of Virology, January 2005, p. 472-485, Vol. 79, No. 1
0022-538X/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.79.1.472-485.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Posttranscriptional Suppression of Interleukin-6 Production by Human Cytomegalovirus

Claire Gealy,1 Marian Denson,1 Christine Humphreys,1 Brian McSharry,2 Gavin Wilkinson,2 and Richard Caswell1*

Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University,1 Section of Infection and Immunity, University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom2

Received 11 June 2004/ Accepted 1 September 2004

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) has evolved multiple strategies for suppression of the antiviral response of the infected cell. DNA array technology has revealed that HCMV clearly regulates host gene expression during the course of a productive infection by enhancing, sustaining, or suppressing steady-state levels of cellular transcripts. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a pleiotropic cytokine that plays a central role in the immune response to infection. Here we report a detailed study of the effects of HCMV infection on IL-6 expression by human fibroblasts. UV-inactivated virus was found to induce high levels of IL-6 mRNA and protein expression, and IL-6 mRNA remained abundant in cells 16 h after inoculation even though the level of ongoing IL-6 transcription was not significantly enhanced. In lytic HCMV infections, the onset of viral gene expression resulted in two apparently antagonistic effects on IL-6 expression: (i) transcriptional activation, mediated at least in part by the IE2p86 protein, and (ii) posttranscriptional suppression mediated by destabilization of IL-6 mRNA. Transcriptional activation was outweighed by the suppressive effect, such that cells undergoing productive infection produced less IL-6 than cells challenged with inactivated virus. Suppression of IL-6 expression was independent of the viral IL-10 homologue, cmvIL-10. Destabilization of IL-6 mRNA was observed to coincide with the enhanced expression and aberrant intracellular localization of HuR, an mRNA-binding protein known to interact with IL-6 and other mRNAs containing 3' AU-rich elements. Our data suggest a novel mechanism for gene regulation by HCMV at the posttranscriptional level.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Biomedical Sciences Building, Museum Avenue, P.O. Box 911, Cardiff CF10 3US, United Kingdom. Phone: 44 (0)29 2087 4110. Fax: 44 (0)29 2087 4486. E-mail: CaswellR{at}cf.ac.uk.

Journal of Virology, January 2005, p. 472-485, Vol. 79, No. 1
0022-538X/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.79.1.472-485.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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