CELLULAR GENE-EXPRESSION ALTERED BY HUMAN CYTOMEGALOVIRUS - GLOBAL MONITORING WITH OLIGONUCLEOTIDE ARRAYS

Mechanistic insights to viral replication and pathogenesis generally h ave come from the analysis of viral gene products, either by studying their biochemical activities and interactions individually or by creat ing mutant viruses and analyzing their phenotype. Now it is possible t o identify and catalog the host cell genes whose mRNA levels change in response to a pathogen. We have used DNA array technology to monitor the level of approximate to 6,600 human mRNAs in uninfected as compare d with human cytomegalovirus-infected cells. The level of 258 mRNAs ch anged by a factor of 4 or more before the onset of viral DNA replicati on. Several of these mRNAs encode gene products that might play key ro les in virus-induced pathogenesis, identifying them as intriguing targ ets for further study.