Molecular pathogenesis of equine coital exanthema: Identification and expression of infected cell polypeptides at the restricted temperature during equine herpesvirus 3 infection

Abstract

Equine herpesvirus 3 (EHV-3)-infected equine cells display a kinetics of infected cell polypeptide (ICP) synthesis at 34°C that is typical of coordinate cascade gene regulation of herpesviruses. In contrast, when infected cell cultures are incubated at the restricted temperature of 39°C, the shift from early (β) gene expression to late (γ) gene expression is perturbed, i.e., there is an accumulation of early (β) gene products and a decrease in, or absence of, late (γ) gene products. Some of the affected late (γ) gene products may be glycoproteins since these ICPs co-migrated with radiolabeled bands from infected cells incubated with [ 3H] glucosamine, separated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. These findings are consistent with previous findings (Jacob, 1986), indicating that the growth restriction is in a late viral function (s) and possibly involves envelopment of nucleocapsids into infectious virions.