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Herpes simplex virus type 2 membrane protein UL56 associates with the kinesin motor protein KIF1A

2005; Microbiology Society; Volume: 86; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1099/vir.0.80633-0

1465-2099

Tetsuo Koshizuka, Yasushi Kawaguchi, Yukihiro Nishiyama,

Retinal Development and Disorders

The herpes simplex virus UL56 gene product is a C-terminal-anchored, type II membrane protein of unknown function. UL56 was found to interact with KIF1A, a member of the kinesin-3 family, in a yeast two-hybrid screen and a GST pull-down assay. KIF1A mediates the transport of synaptic vesicle precursors and is essential for the function and viability of neurons. When overexpressed, KIF1A co-localized with full-sized UL56, but no clear co-localization was observed when co-expressed with the UL56 mutant protein lacking its C-terminal transmembrane domain (TMD). Although the C-terminal TMD was not essential for the interaction with KIF1A in the yeast two-hybrid screen and GST pull-down assays, these results indicate that the C-terminal TMD, as well as aa 69-217, of UL56 are important for the interaction with KIF1A in vivo. The hypothesis that the UL56 protein affects vesicular trafficking in infected cells, potentially by acting as a receptor for motor proteins in neurons, is discussed.