Skip Navigation


Glycobiology Advance Access originally published online on January 3, 2007
Glycobiology 2007 17(4):355-366; doi:10.1093/glycob/cwl083
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
17/4/355    most recent
cwl083v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Nyström, K.
Right arrow Articles by Olofsson, S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Nyström, K.
Right arrow Articles by Olofsson, S.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Virus-induced transcriptional activation of host FUT genes associated with neo-expression of Ley in cytomegalovirus-infected and sialyl-Lex in varicella-zoster virus-infected diploid human cells

Kristina Nyström2, Ammi Grahn3, Magnus Lindh2, Maria Brytting4, Ulla Mandel5, Göran Larson3 and Sigvard Olofsson1,2

2 Department of Virology
3 Department of Clinical Chemistry and Transfusion Medicine, University of Göteborg, Göteborg, Sweden
4 Department of Virology, Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control, Solna, Sweden
5 Dental School, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

1 To whom correspondence should be addressed; Tel: +46-31-342 4659; Fax: +46-31-82 7032; e-mail: sigvard.olofsson{at}microbio.gu.se

Received on March 21, 2006; revised on December 19, 2006; accepted on December 21, 2006

Cell surface carbohydrate structures including sialyl-Lewis X (sLex) and Lewis Y (Ley) are important ligands in normal and malignant tissues. The aim here was to determine the possible influence on the expression of such antigens by two viruses varicella-zoster virus (VZV) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) involved in persistent infections of humans. We found that infection of human diploid fibroblasts with both viruses resulted in transcriptional activation of several fucosyltransferase (FUT) genes that were either dormant or expressed at low levels in uninfected cells. Both viruses induced FUT3, FUT5, and FUT6, encoding {alpha}1,3- and/or {alpha}1,4-specific fucosyltransferases. CMV, but not VZV, induced transcription of FUT1 (encoding an {alpha}1,2-specific fucosyltransferase), FUT7, and FUT9. The changes in transcription of FUT genes were expectedly associated with expression of Ley in CMV-infected cells and sLex in the VZV-infected fibroblasts although no expression of these antigens was observed in uninfected cells. One major explanation for this difference between CMV- and VZV-infected cells was that CMV, but not VZV, induced expression of FUT1, necessary for Ley expression. The induced carbohydrate antigens in CMV- and VZV-infected cells could be of significance for virus spread and possible escape from immune responses.

Key words: cytomegalovirus / fucosyltransferase / Lewis Y / sialyl-Lewis X / varicella-zoster virus


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.