The UL97 protein is a viral orthologue of the cellular cyclin dependent kinases (Cdks) and thus is referred to as a v-Cdk. The UL97 gene is expressed with early/late kinetics and the protein, which localizes to the nucleus, is a minor virion component. UL97 is a kinase that phosphorylates (and thus activates) the antiviral drug gancyclovir, as well as viral and cellular proteins including UL44, Rb, p107, p130, EF-1delta, p32 and lamin A/C. Although not absolutely required for viral replication, null mutants of UL97 show a 10- to 1000-fold growth defect dependent upon the culture conditions of the cells. Defects in the absence of UL97 activity, either by genetic mutation or pharmacological inhibition, include a decrease in viral DNA replication and capsid nuclear egress.
Our most recent UL97 paper:
A classic UL97 paper from our lab:
Hume A.J., Finkel J.S., Kamil J.P., Coen D.M., Culbertson M.R., Kalejta R.F. Phosphorylation of retinoblastoma protein by viral protein with cyclin-dependent kinase function. Science. 2008 May 9;320(5877):797-9. PMID: 18467589
One of our UL97 review articles:
Hume A.J., Kalejta R.F. Regulation of the retinoblastoma proteins by the human herpesviruses. Cell Div. 2009 Jan 15;4:1.PMCID: PMC 2636798