Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers University, 225 Warren Street, Newark, NJ 070101, USA.
Department of Pain Medicine, Huazhong University of Science and Technology Union Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen 518052, China.
Viruses. 2023 Aug 8;15(8):1703. doi: 10.3390/v15081703.
Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a widespread pathogen that poses significant risks to immunocompromised individuals. Its genome spans over 230 kbp and potentially encodes over 200 open-reading frames. The HCMV transcriptome consists of various types of RNAs, including messenger RNAs (mRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), circular RNAs (circRNAs), and microRNAs (miRNAs), with emerging insights into their biological functions. HCMV mRNAs are involved in crucial viral processes, such as viral replication, transcription, and translation regulation, as well as immune modulation and other effects on host cells. Additionally, four lncRNAs (RNA1.2, RNA2.7, RNA4.9, and RNA5.0) have been identified in HCMV, which play important roles in lytic replication like bypassing acute antiviral responses, promoting cell movement and viral spread, and maintaining HCMV latency. CircRNAs have gained attention for their important and diverse biological functions, including association with different diseases, acting as microRNA sponges, regulating parental gene expression, and serving as translation templates. Remarkably, HCMV encodes miRNAs which play critical roles in silencing human genes and other functions. This review gives an overview of human cytomegalovirus and current research on the HCMV transcriptome during lytic and latent infection.
人巨细胞病毒（HCMV）是一种广泛存在的病原体，对免疫功能低下的个体构成重大风险。其基因组跨度超过 230 kbp，可能编码超过 200 个开放阅读框。HCMV 转录组由各种类型的 RNA 组成，包括信使 RNA（mRNA）、长非编码 RNA（lncRNA）、环状 RNA（circRNA）和 microRNA（miRNA），其生物学功能正在不断被揭示。HCMV mRNA 参与病毒复制、转录和翻译调控、免疫调节以及对宿主细胞的其他影响等关键病毒过程。此外，在 HCMV 中已经鉴定出四种 lncRNA（RNA1.2、RNA2.7、RNA4.9 和 RNA5.0），它们在裂解复制中发挥重要作用，如绕过急性抗病毒反应、促进细胞运动和病毒传播、维持 HCMV 潜伏。环状 RNA 因其重要而多样的生物学功能而受到关注，包括与不同疾病的关联、作为 microRNA 海绵、调节亲本基因表达以及作为翻译模板。值得注意的是，HCMV 编码的 microRNA 在沉默人类基因和其他功能中发挥着关键作用。本综述概述了人巨细胞病毒以及在裂解和潜伏感染期间 HCMV 转录组的当前研究。
