Herpesvirus homologues of cellular genes.

For millions of years viruses have adapted strategies to interfere with the immune defense of the host, which in turn has to deal with this challenge. In general the antiviral defense remains one step behind the pathogen. To achieve this strategic advantage large DNA-containing Viruses encode cellular homologues that mimic or counteract key molecules of the host immune system. Understanding how these cellular homologues enable the viruses to evade the antiviral defense and persist in the host for the lifetime will ultimatively lead also to a better understanding of the principle functions of the immune system. In this review we focused on cellular homologues encoded by human herpesviruses and discuss the functional consequences of their expression.