Cytomegalovirus selectively blocks antigen processing and presentation of its immediate-early gene product

RECOGNITION of virus-infected cells by CD8(+) cytotoxic T lymphocytes requires that the viral proteins be processed into peptides, the derived peptides transported into the endoplasmic reticulum and inserted into the binding groove of a major histocompatability complex class I molecule, and the antigenic complex exported to the cell surface(1). However, viral pathogens can disrupt this process and interfere with immune recognition(1-4). These mechanisms may be vital to large viruses such as human cytomegalovirus (CMV), which causes persistent infection despite producing over 200 potentially antigenic proteins during the sequential immediate-early, early and late phases of viral gene expression(5,6). Products of CMV early-phase gene expression can globally block class I presentation(7-10) and prevent recognition of infected cells by cytotoxic T lymphocytes, but an essential viral transcription factor, the 72K principal immediate-early protein, is abundantly expressed before this blockade. However, only a few host CD8(+) cytotoxic T lymphocytes specific for immediate-early protein are present in seropositive individuals, and these lyse CMV-infected cells poorly(11). Here we demonstrate selective abrogation of immediate-early peptide presentation by a CMV matrix protein with associated kinase activity and suggest that modification of a viral protein can result in limiting access to the processing machinery and evasion of cytotoxic-T-cell recognition.