Stenberg R M, Kerry J A
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, USA.
Scand J Infect Dis Suppl. 1995;99:3-6.
During the past several years, studies have indicated that cytomegalovirus (CMV) genes can be grouped into two broad categories; those essential for replication in cell culture and those dispensible for virus replication. The latter group of genes are likely to be important for pathogenesis and host-virus interactions. As the field progresses, the need to utilize and establish biological systems capable of addressing gene function during a natural infection of cells in culture, or in the infected animal, is becoming more apparent. Herein, we describe the current status of some of those systems, what has been learned and where these studies may lead. Specifically, we address studies that assess mechanisms of gene activation and function in biologically relevant systems. These include (i) the identification of genes dispensible for replication in cell culture, (ii) the use of dispensible regions of the CMV genome to manipulate genetic information for assessing gene function and activation, and (iii) the identification of a related group of essential loci important for replication of human CMV (HCMV) DNA and what is presently known of the function of those genes during HCMV infection.
在过去几年中，研究表明巨细胞病毒（CMV）基因可分为两大类：在细胞培养中复制所必需的基因和病毒复制非必需的基因。后一组基因可能对发病机制和宿主-病毒相互作用很重要。随着该领域的发展，利用和建立能够在细胞培养物或感染动物的自然感染过程中研究基因功能的生物系统的需求变得越来越明显。在此，我们描述了其中一些系统的现状、已了解到的情况以及这些研究可能的发展方向。具体而言，我们讨论了在生物学相关系统中评估基因激活和功能机制的研究。这些研究包括：（i）鉴定在细胞培养中复制非必需的基因；（ii）利用CMV基因组的非必需区域操纵遗传信息以评估基因功能和激活；（iii）鉴定一组对人巨细胞病毒（HCMV）DNA复制重要的相关必需基因座，以及目前对这些基因在HCMV感染过程中功能的了解。
