Adenovirus--an eternal archetype.

Abstract

Adenovirus constitutes a large group of DNA viruses that infect humans, animals, and birds (Pereira et al. 1963). The adenovirus genome containing 36 kb of DNA is organized in early and late transcription units (Ginsberg 1984; Horwitz 1990). Transcription of the latter is activated at the onset of viral DNA replication. From each of the six early transcription units, numerous messenger RNA are generated, and the encoded polypeptides are required to establish productive viral replication, transformation, and viral latency in infected cells. The first transcription units to be activated shortly after infection, regions E1A and E1B, encode proteins involved in cellular transformation and transactivation of viral and cellular transcription units (Flint and Shenk 1989). Regions E2A and E2B encode proteins involved in adenovirus DNA replication, including the viral polymerase terminal protein and the DNA-binding protein (Horwitz 1990). Finally, regions E3 and E4 are involved in other early viral functions leading to suppression of host defense mechanisms (Wold and Gooding 1991 ), to transcriptional activation of other promoters (Hardy et al. 1989), and to preferential transport of viral mRNA (Babiss and Ginsberg 1984; Halbert et al. 1985).KeywordsCellular mRNAPenton BaseAdenovirus GenomePreferential TranslationMajor Late PromoterThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.