Protein-protein interactions between human cytomegalovirus IE2-580aa and pUL84 in lytically infected cells

The human cytomegalovirus immediate-early protein IE2-580aa (ppUL122a) activates transcription of viral and cellular genes and represses its own transcription through sequence-specific binding to the major immediate-early promoter. In lytically infected cells, IE2-580aa interacts with a 75-kDa viral protein (p75), an early protein that is also synthesized at late times after infection. Here we show that p75 is the product of the UL84 gene. Its association with IE2-580aa in infected cells suggests that pUL84 is involved in transcription control.