Focal nuclear envelope lesions and specific nuclear lamin A/C dephosphorylation during infection with human cytomegalovirus.

Morphological analysis of cytomegalovirus-infected human fibroblasts reveals characteristic alterations of the nuclear envelope during budding of the nucleocapsids from the nucleus. These changes include focal nuclear lamina thickening and formation of "blebs" at the nuclear membranes. Using a specific monoclonal antibody that recognizes a phosphorylated epitope in nuclear lamins A/C, we show here that the cytopathological alterations at the neighborhood of the nuclear lamina are paralleled by a process of systemic dephosphorylation of the nuclear lamins.