Identification of VZV ORF9p potential cellular partners that could be important for the viral egress.

ORF9p (homologous to HSV-1 VP22) is a VZV tegument protein essential for the viral replication. During the lytic cycle it is the mostly expressed gene. We have recently demonstrated that it is a substrate of the viral kinase ORF47p and that its ORF47p-dependent phosphorylation is important for the secondary envelopment process. We also have identified an acidic cluster (AC) within the protein that is important for its correct localization in the infected cells and for the interaction with ORF47p. The recombinant VZV expressing ORF9p-ΔAC presents an accumulation of capsids in the perinuclear space. ORF9p seems then to play an important role in several steps of the egress process. In this context, we sought to identify cellular partners of ORF9p that might be important for these functions. We performed a yeast two hybrid screen against the human ORFeome 5.1. and picked out 44 candidates among which 5 proteins playing roles in membrane organization and targeting. We currently are trying to confirm these interactions in infected cells and to assess the role of these interactions for the viral lytic cycle.