Tomasz H. Benedyk

We sought to define the functional consequences of the pUL21–CERT interaction for HSV-1 infection. Using click chemistry, we demonstrated that pUL21-mediated CERT dephosphorylation increases the rate of Cer to SM conversion in cultured cells. We characterized the solution structure of the pUL21 C-terminal domain in complex with the PH and START domains of CERT, identifying a specific pUL21 amino acid required for the interaction.