Naslov
Analysis of the MCMV transcriptome reveals unexpected genome complexity

Autori
Vanda Juranić Lisnić, Marina Babić, Mišel Šatrak, Tihana Tršan, Stipan Jonjić, Joanne Trgovcich

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, znanstveni

Izvornik
Godišnji sastanak Hrvatskoh imunološkog društva 2010 / - , 2010

Skup
Godišnji sastanak Hrvatskoh imunološkog društva 2010

Mjesto i datum
Mali Lošinj, Hrvatska, 23.09.2010. - 26.09.2010

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Domaća recenzija

Ključne riječi
MCMV; transcriptome; antisense transcription

Sažetak
Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a widespread beta-herpes virus which, after mostly asymptomatic primary infection, establishes lifelong persistence with minimal or no damage to its host. However, reactivation of latent HCMV in immunosuppressed and immunologically immature individuals can lead to severe disease and even death, while the development of an effective HCMV vaccine is being hampered by our poor knowledge of the pathogenesis of HCMV infection and its species specificity. Nonetheless, murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) is biologically similar and genetically strongly related to HCMV, making it an excellent model for in vivo studies of human-related CMV pathogenesis. Indeed, detailed characterization of various MCMV deletion mutants has led to the identification and characterization of new and significant immunoevasin genes. However, current genomic map of the MCMV was constructed by relying heavily on bioinformatic prediction of ORFs and their verification by genomic tilling arrays. Such an approach is problematic because it can lead to inaccurate annotation of ORFs, rare alternative splicing sites and transcript endpoints that could serve as targets for important regulatory molecules, for example miRNA. Therefore, the goal of this project was to characterize in detail all of the viral transcripts, both polyadenylated and non-polyadenylated, that accumulate in infected cells. Similar transcriptomic analysis of only poly(A) transcripts in HCMV revealed many novel genes and gene products, and our analysis revealed astonishing complexity of the MCMV transcriptome, which could not have been envisioned solely by in silico ORF prediction. We have detected a significant number of previously undetected transcripts and novel splice-variants, together with several S-AS pairs. Further characterization of these gene products may provide new insights into the mechanism of CMV diseases and represent novel targets in prevention and/or treatment of CMV infection.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Temeljne medicinske znanosti

POVEZANOST RADA