Exploitation of Host Cell Cycle Regulatory Pathways by HCMV
Veronica Sanchez and Deborah H. Spector
from: Cytomegaloviruses: Molecular Biology and Immunology (Edited by: Matthias J. Reddehase). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2006)
Abstract
Human cytomegalovirus has evolved multiple mechanisms to manipulate the host cell's metabolic and regulatory systems for the purposes of creating an environment favorable for productive infection. From the very early phases of the infection, virus-encoded proteins target key components of the cell cycle machinery to effect arrest and prevent cellular DNA replication while maintaining an active state that provides the intermediates required for the virus to replicate its own DNA. The prolonged replicative cycle of the virus necessitates that it attenuates the cell's response to the stresses imposed by viral infection. To this end, the virus has also developed methods to circumvent the apoptotic program and extend cell survival. In this chapter we will discuss the changes induced by viral infection with specific focus on the viral proteins that contribute to these effects and the possible consequences that these modifications may have in cells that do not become productively infected read more ...
