Formation of DNA replication structures in herpes virus-infected cells requires a viral DNA binding protein.

Eukaryotic DNA synthesis is thought to occur in multienzyme complexes present at numerous discrete sites throughout the nucleus. We demonstrate here that cellular DNA replication sites identified by bromodeoxyuridine labeling are relocated in cells infected with herpes simplex virus such that they correspond to viral prereplicative structures containing the HSV DNA replication protein, ICP8. Thus components of the cellular DNA replication apparatus are present at viral prereplicative sites. Mutant virus strains expressing defective ICP8 do not alter the pattern of host cell DNA replication sites, indicating that functional ICP8 is required for the redistribution of cellular DNA replication complexes. This demonstrates that a specific protein molecule can play a role in the organization of DNA replication proteins at discrete sites within the cell nucleus.