New research has coupled proteome and transcriptome measurements, finding that a comprehensive view of viral gene expression can be seen that would not have been achievable by using the methodologies separately.
Using the new methodology, researchers found that the majority of viral genes were efficiently detected at the transcript and/or protein level on manipulating the viral life cycle. Under the heading 'Insights on the detection and discovery of viral genes' they found a complementary correlation between expressed viral proteins and transcripts in both validating and providing orthogonal data with latent/lytic viral gene expression.
The study extends viral genome annotation, and was successful in identifying novel viral genes: KSHV and EBV, as well as validating several uncharacterized genes at both transcript and protein levels.
Knowing which viral genes are expressed in infected cancer cells, and knowing which of them contribute to disease pathogenesis is essential. Mass spectrometry and high-resolution separation, coupled with custom tiling arrays were used to align the viral proteomes and transcriptomes of three PEL and two BL cell lines under latent and lytic culture conditions.