Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins Commons^™

Mouse Cytomegalovirus M33 Is Necessary And Sufficient In Virus-Induced Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Migration, Ryan Melnychuk, Patsy Smith, Craig N. Kreklywich, Franziska Ruchti, Jennifer Totonchy, Laurel Hall, Lambert Loh, Jay A. Nelson, Susan L. Orloff, Daniel N. Streblow

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Mouse cytomegalovirus (MCMV) encodes two potential seven-transmembrane-spanning proteins with homologies to cellular chemokine receptors, M33 and M78. While these virus-encoded chemokine receptors are necessary for the in vivo pathogenesis of MCMV, the function of these proteins is unknown. Since vascular smooth muscle cell (SMC) migration is of critical importance for the development of atherosclerosis and other vascular diseases, the ability of M33 to promote SMC motility was assessed. Similar to human CMV, MCMV induced the migration of mouse aortic SMCs but not mouse fibroblasts. To demonstrate whether M33 was required for MCMV-induced SMC migration, we employed interfering-RNA technology to specifically …