Infection of cattle by bovine herpesvirus type 1 (BHV-1) can lead to upper respiratory tract disorders, conjunctivitis, genital disorders and immune suppression. BHV-1-induced immune suppression initiates bovine respiratory disease complex (BRDC), which costs the US cattle industry approximately 3 billion dollars annually. BHV-1 encodes at least three proteins that can inhibit specific arms of the immune system: (i) bICP0 inhibits interferon-dependent transcription, (ii) the UL41.5 protein inhibits CD8+ T-cell recognition of infected cells by preventing trafficking of viral peptides to the surface of the cells and (iii) glycoprotein G is a chemokine-binding protein that prevents homing of lymphocytes to sights of infection. Following acute infection of calves, BHV-1 can also infect and induce high levels of apoptosis of CD4+ T-cells. Consequently, the ability of BHV-1 to impair the immune response can lead to BRDC. Following acute infection, BHV-1 establishes latency in sensory neurons of trigeminal ganglia (TG) and germinal centers of pharyngeal tonsil. Periodically BHV-1 reactivates from latency, virus is shed, and consequently virus transmission occurs. Two viral genes, the latency related gene and ORF-E are abundantly expressed during latency, suggesting that they regulate the latency-reactivation cycle. The ability of BHV-1 to enter permissive cells, infect sensory neurons and promote virus spread from sensory neurons to mucosal surfaces following reactivation from latency is also regulated by several viral glycoproteins. The focus of this review is to summarize the biology of BHV-1 and how this relates to BRDC.

SUMMARY Primary infection by herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) can cause clinical symptoms in the peripheral and central nervous system, upper respiratory tract, and gastrointestinal tract. Recurrent ocular shedding leads to corneal scarring that can progress to vision loss. Consequently, HSV-1 is the leading cause of corneal blindness due to an infectious agent. Bovine herpesvirus 1 (BHV-1) has similar biological properties to HSV-1 and is a significant health concern to the cattle industry. Latency of BHV-1 and HSV-1 is established in sensory neurons of trigeminal ganglia, but latency can be interrupted periodically, leading to reactivation from latency and spread of infectious virus. The ability of HSV-1 and BHV-1 to reactivate from latency leads to virus transmission and can lead to recurrent disease in individuals latently infected with HSV-1. During latency, the only abundant HSV-1 RNA expressed is the latency-associated transcript (LAT). In latently infected cattle, the latency-related (LR) RNA is the only abundant transcript that is expressed. LAT and LR RNA are antisense to ICP0 or bICP0, viral genes that are crucial for productive infection, suggesting that LAT and LR RNA interfere with productive infection by inhibiting ICP0 or bICP0 expression. Numerous studies have concluded that LAT expression is important for the latency-reactivation cycle in animal models. The LR gene has recently been demonstrated to be required for the latency-reactivation cycle in cattle. Several recent studies have demonstrated that LAT and the LR gene inhibit apoptosis (programmed cell death) in trigeminal ganglia of infected animals and transiently transfected cells. The antiapoptotic properties of LAT map to the same sequences that are necessary for promoting reactivation from latency. This review summarizes our current knowledge of factors regulating the latency-reactivation cycle of HSV-1 and BHV-1.

Following acute infection of cattle with bovine herpesvirus-1 (BHV-1), cyclin expression was examined in trigeminal ganglia (TG). Cyclin A was primarily detected in the nucleus of TG neurons. In contrast, cyclin D1 and cyclin E were detected in the nucleus and cytoplasm of TG neurons. Uninfected or latently infected calves did not express detectable levels of these cyclins in TG neurons. Following dexamethasone-induced reactivation, cyclins D1, E and A were also detected in TG neurons. In situ hybridization of consecutive sections demonstrated that many neurons expressing cyclins contained viral nucleic acid, demonstrating that they were infected. Based on these observations, we hypothesize that BHV-1 infection activates neuronal cyclin expression to enhance productive infection. It is also possible that the stress of neuronal infection or reactivation leads to cyclin expression.

Fusarium moniliforme (FM) is a major fungal pathogen of corn and is involved with stalk rot disease. FM is widely spread throughout the world, including the United States. Most strains of FM produce several mycotoxins, the most prominent of which is called fumonisin. Recent epidemiological studies indicated that ingestion of fumonisin correlates with a higher incidence of esophageal cancer in Southern and Northern Africa and China. Furthermore, fumonisin causes a neurodegenerative disease in horses, induces hepatic cancer in rats, and induces pulmonary edema in swine. Considering that high levels of fumonisin have been detected in healthy and diseased corn grown in the United States, fumonisin may pose a health threat to humans and livestock animals. Structurally, fumonisin resembles sphingolipids which are present in the membranes of animal and plant cells. At the present time, very little is known concerning the mechanism by which fumonisin elicits its carcinogenic effect. Our studies indicate that fumonisin represses expression of protein kinase C and AP-1-dependent transcription. In contrast, fumonisin stimulated a simple promoter containing a single cyclic AMP response element. Since fumonisin did not alter protein kinase A activity, it appears that cyclic AMP response element activation was independent of protein kinase A. It is hypothesized that the ability of fumonisin to alter signal transduction pathways plays a role in carcinogenesis.

The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) long terminal repeat (LTR) is transactivated by various extracellular signals and viral cofactors that include human herpesviruses. These transactivators are capable of transactivating the HIV-1 LTR through the transactivation response element, NF-kappa B, or other regulatory binding elements. Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) is a potential cofactor of HIV-1. Here, we report that an HHV-6 gene segment, ZVH14, which can neoplastically transform NIH 3T3 and human keratinocytes, is capable of transactivating HIV-1 LTR chloramphenicol acetyltransferase constructs in an Sp1 binding site-dependent manner. Transactivation increased synergistically in the presence of multiple Sp1 sites and was dramatically reduced by cotransfection with oligomers designed to form triplex structures with HIV-1 LTR Sp1 binding sites. HIV-1 LTR NF-kappa B sites were not essential for ZVH14-mediated transactivation. A putative open reading frame in ZVH14, B115, which may encode a highly basic peptide consisting of 115 amino acid residues, showed transactivation capacity similar to that of ZVH14. This open reading frame also transactivated the HIV-1 LTR in an Sp1 site-dependent fashion in African green monkey kidney cells and human T cells. These data suggest that HHV-6 may stimulate HIV-1 replication via transactivation of Sp1 binding sites present in the HIV-1 promoter.

Expression of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) encoded ribonucleotide reductase (RR) is required for growth of the virus in non-dividing cells. The functional enzyme is composed of a large (RRA) and small (RRB) subunit and the enzyme is expressed as a delayed early activity. The promoter of RRA contains a cis-acting motif (TAATGARAT) which resembles those found in immediate early (IE) genes suggesting RRA is an IE gene. When primate cells were infected with HSV-2, low levels of RRA transcripts were expressed in the presence of cycloheximide indicating RRA is not a true IE gene. Conditions which allow for efficient RRA RNA expression in the presence of cycloheximide were identified in human cells. A phorbol ester, 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13- acetate (TPA), and hydroxyurea increased the level of RRA RNA expression in the presence of cycloheximide. Hydroxyurea and TPA also stimulated RRA promoter activity in transient assays suggesting these agents induced factors which transactivated the RRA promoter. Expression of an intact c-myc gene transactivated the RRA promoter more than 30-fold in transient assays. Although expression of an intact retinoblastoma gene (Rb) had a slight stimulatory effect on the RRA promoter, mutant Rb proteins also stimulated the RRA promoter. These studies demonstrated that inducible factors in permissive cells increase the steady state levels of RRA RNA in the presence of cycloheximide.