TY - JOUR
T1 - A cluster of latently expressed genes in Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus
AU - Dittmer, Dirk
AU - Lagunoff, Michael
AU - Renne, Rolf
AU - Staskus, Katherine
AU - Haase, Ashley
AU - Ganem, Don
PY - 1998/10
Y1 - 1998/10
N2 - Infection with Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is closely associated with Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) and primary effusion lymphoma, with vital genomes present in a latent state in the majority of tumor cells. Here we describe a cluster of latently expressed vital genes whose mRNAs are generated from a common promoter. Two mRNAs in this region encode the latency-associated nuclear antigen, the product of open reading frame 73 (ORF73). The larger RNA, of 5.8 kb, is an unspliced transcript that includes ORF72 and -71 at its 3' end; it initiates at nucleotides (nt) 127880 to 127886 from a promoter lacking recognizable TATA elements. A less abundant mRNA, of 5.4 kb, is a variant of this transcript, in which 336 nt of 5' noncoding information has been removed by RNA splicing. A third, more abundant RNA is generated from the same promoter region via splicing from the common splice donor at nt 127813 to an acceptor 5' to ORF72; this transcript is the presumed mRNA for ORF72, which encodes the viral cyclin D homolog. All three RNAs are 3' coterminal. In situ hybridization analysis with probes that can detect all three transcripts shows that the RNAs are detectable in a large fraction of BCBL-1 cells prior to lytic induction and in >70% of KS spindle cells in primary KS tumors. This confirms that these transcripts are indeed latent RNAs and suggests a role for their products in vital persistence and/or KSHV-associated proliferation.
AB - Infection with Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is closely associated with Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) and primary effusion lymphoma, with vital genomes present in a latent state in the majority of tumor cells. Here we describe a cluster of latently expressed vital genes whose mRNAs are generated from a common promoter. Two mRNAs in this region encode the latency-associated nuclear antigen, the product of open reading frame 73 (ORF73). The larger RNA, of 5.8 kb, is an unspliced transcript that includes ORF72 and -71 at its 3' end; it initiates at nucleotides (nt) 127880 to 127886 from a promoter lacking recognizable TATA elements. A less abundant mRNA, of 5.4 kb, is a variant of this transcript, in which 336 nt of 5' noncoding information has been removed by RNA splicing. A third, more abundant RNA is generated from the same promoter region via splicing from the common splice donor at nt 127813 to an acceptor 5' to ORF72; this transcript is the presumed mRNA for ORF72, which encodes the viral cyclin D homolog. All three RNAs are 3' coterminal. In situ hybridization analysis with probes that can detect all three transcripts shows that the RNAs are detectable in a large fraction of BCBL-1 cells prior to lytic induction and in >70% of KS spindle cells in primary KS tumors. This confirms that these transcripts are indeed latent RNAs and suggests a role for their products in vital persistence and/or KSHV-associated proliferation.
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U2 - 10.1128/jvi.72.10.8309-8315.1998
DO - 10.1128/jvi.72.10.8309-8315.1998
M3 - Article
C2 - 9733875
AN - SCOPUS:0031714795
SN - 0022-538X
VL - 72
SP - 8309
EP - 8315
JO - Journal of virology
JF - Journal of virology
IS - 10
ER -