Gene expression analysis of EBV-encoded dUTPase in hDCs

Gene expression patterns provide insight into complex biological networks in which viruses and host cells interact. Dendritic cells are the most potent antigen presenting cells of the immune system and are crucial for the initiation of T-cell responses to viral pathogens. To better understand the biological effects of the EBV-encoded dUTPase on gene modulation in cells that play a central role in innate and adaptive immune responses, microarray gene expression profiling studies were performed in untreated or EBV-encoded dUTPase treated hDCs using the human genome U133 Plus 2.0 GeneChip. The results of this study identified over 800 differentially expressed genes between control and EBV-encoded dUTPase treated samples for each normalized data set using the criteria fold change >2 and p<0.05. The effect of the EBV-encoded dUTPase on gene expression in human dendritic Langerhan cells (hDCs), derived from human umbilical cord blood (HUCB) cells, was determined by treating hDCs with purified EBV-encoded dUTPase (10 µg/ml), for 4 h and then compared the gene expression in these cells to untreated controls. A total of 5 samples (2 controls and 3 treated) were analyzed.