Immediate-early protein 1 (exon 4) (IE1-exon4)

Immediate-early protein 1 (IE1) is a major regulatory protein of human cytomegalovirus, essential for the initiation of the viral replication cycle and latent/lytic gene expression programs. The "exon 4" segment of IE1 is a highly immunogenic region that has been used in vaccine development due to its strong capacity to elicit HCMV-specific T cell responses. IE1 antagonizes host cell antiviral processes (notably PML nuclear body-mediated restriction), contributes to evasion of intrinsic immunity by binding and modifying cellular proteins, and plays a role in epigenetic regulation and establishment of viral latency[5][3][8][1]. “IE1-exon4” is not a full-length gene or protein, but designates a region within the main IE1 protein; its primary importance is as an epitope recognized by the immune system and as a tool in research for CMV vaccine antigen design.

Other names

IE1 exon 4HCMV IE1 exon 4cytomegalovirus immediate-early 1 exon 4

When used in vaccine research, presented IE1-exon4-derived antigens elicit T cell-mediated immune responses that recognize and eliminate CMV-infected cells