Pseudouridylate Synthase 3 (PUS3)

pUS3, a protein kinase conserved among the alphaherpesviruses. Pseudorabies Virus pUS3 or herpes simplex virus pUS3 plays a role in inhibition of controlled cell death (apoptosis). BoHV-1 pUS3 does not exhibit this activity. The analyses to elucidate the functions of this protein and experiments to identify cellular proteins that interact with pUS3 are performed using tagged wild type and mutated pUS3 variants expressed after BacMam technology mediated transduction. The mature virion of the alphaherpesvirus pseudorabies virus (PrV) contains a minimum of 31 structural proteins which are recruited into the virus particle by a network of protein-protein interactions which is only incompletely understood. Deletion of the tegument protein pUL21 resulted in a drastic decrease in the incorporation of the pUL46, pUL49, and pUS3 tegument components into mature virions.