1. Expression of Marek's Disease Virus Oncoprotein Meq During Infection in the Natural Host.
- Author
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Tai SS, Hearn C, Umthong S, Agafitei O, Cheng HH, Dunn JR, and Niikura M
- Subjects
- Animals, Cell Line, Cell Transformation, Viral genetics, Chick Embryo, Chickens virology, Green Fluorescent Proteins genetics, Herpesvirus 2, Gallid genetics, Herpesvirus 2, Gallid immunology, Polymerase Chain Reaction, Recombinant Proteins genetics, Recombinant Proteins metabolism, CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes immunology, Herpesvirus 2, Gallid pathogenicity, Marek Disease virology, Oncogene Proteins, Viral biosynthesis, Oncogene Proteins, Viral genetics, Poultry Diseases virology
- Abstract
Gallid herpesvirus 2 (Marek's disease virus, MDV) causes lymphoproliferative Marek's disease (MD), and is unique among alphaherpesviruses as the viral genome encodes an oncoprotein, Meq. To elucidate the temporal relationship between Meq expression and the development of MD lymphomas in infected chickens, we generated a virulent recombinant MDV that expresses GFP simultaneously with Meq. By using this virus, we monitored the dynamics of Meq expression in vivo throughout the course of infection. In peripheral blood mononuclear cells, the percentage of Meq-expressing cells dramatically increased in the early latent phase but decreased thereafter. Furthermore, we discovered evidences that indicate some of the infected lymphocytes did not express Meq during the latent phase of MDV pathogenesis. These findings provide the first insight into the temporal relationship between Meq expression and MD progression, and new clues to refine the current MD pathogenesis model., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2017
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