Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Virology. 2011 Sep 1;417(2):239-47. doi: 10.1016/j.virol.2011.06.027. Epub 2011 Jul 23.
Several herpes simplex virus 1 microRNAs are encoded within or near the latency associated transcript (LAT) locus, and are expressed abundantly during latency. Some of these microRNAs can repress the expression of important viral proteins and are hypothesized to play important roles in establishing and/or maintaining latent infections. We found that in lytically infected cells and in acutely infected mouse ganglia, expression of LAT-encoded microRNAs was weak and unaffected by a deletion that includes the LAT promoter. In mouse ganglia latently infected with wild type virus, the microRNAs accumulated to high levels, but deletions of the LAT promoter markedly reduced expression of LAT-encoded microRNAs and also miR-H6, which is encoded upstream of LAT and can repress expression of ICP4. Because these LAT deletion mutants establish and maintain latent infections, these microRNAs are not essential for latency, at least in mouse trigeminal ganglia, but may help promote it.
几种单纯疱疹病毒 1 微 RNA 是在潜伏相关转录本（LAT）基因座内或附近编码的，在潜伏期间大量表达。其中一些微 RNA 可以抑制重要病毒蛋白的表达，据推测在建立和/或维持潜伏感染方面发挥着重要作用。我们发现，在裂解感染的细胞和急性感染的小鼠神经节中，LAT 编码的微 RNA 的表达较弱，并且不受包含 LAT 启动子的缺失的影响。在野生型病毒潜伏感染的小鼠神经节中，微 RNA 积累到高水平，但 LAT 启动子的缺失明显降低了 LAT 编码的微 RNA 和 miR-H6 的表达，miR-H6 位于 LAT 的上游，可以抑制 ICP4 的表达。由于这些 LAT 缺失突变体建立和维持潜伏感染，这些微 RNA 至少在小鼠三叉神经节中对于潜伏不是必需的，但可能有助于促进潜伏感染。
