Structure and expression of murine cytomegalovirus immediate-early gene 2

The immediate-early gene ie2 of murine cytomegalovirus was
characterized. The 1.75-kb ie2 transcript is spliced from three
exons, of 78, 124, and 1,283 nucleotides, which are separated by
introns of 1,245 and 364 nucleotides. An ATG codon located in the
third exon leads into an open reading frame of 391 codons.
Immediate-early expression of the predicted polypeptide was
confirmed by immunoprecipitation of a 43-kDa protein by using an
antiserum raised against a bacterial fusion protein. The predicted
IE2 amino acid sequence has regions with similarity to amino acid
sequences of members of the human cytomegalovirus US22 family.