THE ROLES OF HUMAN CYTOMEGALOVIRUS TEGUMENT PROTEINS pUL48 AND pUL103 DURING LYTIC INFECTION
by
DANIEL A. ORTIZ
December 2015
Advisor: Dr. Philip E. Pellett
Major: Immunology and Microbiology
Degree: Doctor of Philosophy
Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a large double-stranded DNA virus that causes severe disease in newborns and immunocompromised patients. During infection, HCMV is able to reconfigure the host cell machinery to establish a virus producing factory, termed the cytoplasmic virion assembly complex (cVAC). Generating drugs that affect cVAC development or function provides an alternative mode of action for HCMV antivirals that can essentially eliminate virion production. The objective of this work is aimed at identifying regulators of cVAC biogenesis that may serve as potential drug targets.
We identified three HCMV genes (UL48, UL94, and UL103) whose silencing or protein degradation had major effects on cVAC development, including failure to form the Golgi ring and dispersal of markers of early and recycling endosomes. In addition, we found that mutant viruses expressing an unstable form of the UL103 protein causes a reduction in plaque size and the aberrant formation of intracellular virions.
To help define the mechanisms of action and predict additional functions of pUL103, we investigated its viral and cellular protein-protein interactions. We applied a dual method approach, co-immunoprecipitation and proximity biotinylation affinity purification followed by mass spectrometry to enrich for pUL103 interaction partners in uninfected and HCMV infected cells. This led to identification of pUL103 in nuclei, delineation of a novel ALIX binding domain, and a role for pUL103 in ALIX localization in infected cells.
","abstract_html":"<p>THE ROLES OF HUMAN CYTOMEGALOVIRUS TEGUMENT PROTEINS pUL48 AND pUL103 DURING LYTIC INFECTION</p> <p>by</p> <p>DANIEL A. ORTIZ</p> <p>December 2015</p> <p>Advisor: Dr. Philip E. Pellett</p> <p>Major: Immunology and Microbiology</p> <p>Degree: Doctor of Philosophy </p> <p> Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a large double-stranded DNA virus that causes severe disease in newborns and immunocompromised patients. During infection, HCMV is able to reconfigure the host cell machinery to establish a virus producing factory, termed the cytoplasmic virion assembly complex (cVAC). Generating drugs that affect cVAC development or function provides an alternative mode of action for HCMV antivirals that can essentially eliminate virion production. The objective of this work is aimed at identifying regulators of cVAC biogenesis that may serve as potential drug targets. </p> <p> We identified three HCMV genes (UL48, UL94, and UL103) whose silencing or protein degradation had major effects on cVAC development, including failure to form the Golgi ring and dispersal of markers of early and recycling endosomes. In addition, we found that mutant viruses expressing an unstable form of the UL103 protein causes a reduction in plaque size and the aberrant formation of intracellular virions.</p> <p> To help define the mechanisms of action and predict additional functions of pUL103, we investigated its viral and cellular protein-protein interactions. We applied a dual method approach, co-immunoprecipitation and proximity biotinylation affinity purification followed by mass spectrometry to enrich for pUL103 interaction partners in uninfected and HCMV infected cells. This led to identification of pUL103 in nuclei, delineation of a novel ALIX binding domain, and a role for pUL103 in ALIX localization in infected cells.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Ortiz, Daniel Angel"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Open Access Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Immunology and Microbiology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Philip E. Pellett"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2016-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:00:17Z","subjects":["assembly compartment","BioID","cVAC","HCMV","UL103","UL48","Cell Biology","Virology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/1405","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Philip E. Pellett"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Ortiz, Daniel Angel"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-01-01T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Immunology and Microbiology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["assembly compartment","BioID","cVAC","HCMV","UL103","UL48","Cell Biology","Virology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/1405"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["THE ROLES OF HUMAN CYTOMEGALOVIRUS TEGUMENT PROTEINS pUL48 AND pUL103 DURING LYTIC INFECTION
by
DANIEL A. ORTIZ
December 2015
Advisor: Dr. Philip E. Pellett
Major: Immunology and Microbiology
Degree: Doctor of Philosophy
Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a large double-stranded DNA virus that causes severe disease in newborns and immunocompromised patients. During infection, HCMV is able to reconfigure the host cell machinery to establish a virus producing factory, termed the cytoplasmic virion assembly complex (cVAC). Generating drugs that affect cVAC development or function provides an alternative mode of action for HCMV antivirals that can essentially eliminate virion production. The objective of this work is aimed at identifying regulators of cVAC biogenesis that may serve as potential drug targets.
We identified three HCMV genes (UL48, UL94, and UL103) whose silencing or protein degradation had major effects on cVAC development, including failure to form the Golgi ring and dispersal of markers of early and recycling endosomes. In addition, we found that mutant viruses expressing an unstable form of the UL103 protein causes a reduction in plaque size and the aberrant formation of intracellular virions.
To help define the mechanisms of action and predict additional functions of pUL103, we investigated its viral and cellular protein-protein interactions. We applied a dual method approach, co-immunoprecipitation and proximity biotinylation affinity purification followed by mass spectrometry to enrich for pUL103 interaction partners in uninfected and HCMV infected cells. This led to identification of pUL103 in nuclei, delineation of a novel ALIX binding domain, and a role for pUL103 in ALIX localization in infected cells.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Roles Of Human Cytomegalovirus Tegument Proteins Pul48 And Pul103 During Lytic Infection"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Philip E. Pellett"],"dc:creator":["Ortiz, Daniel Angel"],"dc:date.available":["2016-01-01T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["THE ROLES OF HUMAN CYTOMEGALOVIRUS TEGUMENT PROTEINS pUL48 AND pUL103 DURING LYTIC INFECTION
by
DANIEL A. ORTIZ
December 2015
Advisor: Dr. Philip E. Pellett
Major: Immunology and Microbiology
Degree: Doctor of Philosophy
Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a large double-stranded DNA virus that causes severe disease in newborns and immunocompromised patients. During infection, HCMV is able to reconfigure the host cell machinery to establish a virus producing factory, termed the cytoplasmic virion assembly complex (cVAC). Generating drugs that affect cVAC development or function provides an alternative mode of action for HCMV antivirals that can essentially eliminate virion production. The objective of this work is aimed at identifying regulators of cVAC biogenesis that may serve as potential drug targets.
We identified three HCMV genes (UL48, UL94, and UL103) whose silencing or protein degradation had major effects on cVAC development, including failure to form the Golgi ring and dispersal of markers of early and recycling endosomes. In addition, we found that mutant viruses expressing an unstable form of the UL103 protein causes a reduction in plaque size and the aberrant formation of intracellular virions.
To help define the mechanisms of action and predict additional functions of pUL103, we investigated its viral and cellular protein-protein interactions. We applied a dual method approach, co-immunoprecipitation and proximity biotinylation affinity purification followed by mass spectrometry to enrich for pUL103 interaction partners in uninfected and HCMV infected cells. This led to identification of pUL103 in nuclei, delineation of a novel ALIX binding domain, and a role for pUL103 in ALIX localization in infected cells.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/1405"],"dc:subject":["assembly compartment","BioID","cVAC","HCMV","UL103","UL48","Cell Biology","Virology"],"dc:title":["The Roles Of Human Cytomegalovirus Tegument Proteins Pul48 And Pul103 During Lytic Infection"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Immunology and Microbiology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:00:17Z"}