Identification of a short amino acid sequence essential for efficient nuclear targeting of the Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigen 3A.

The Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigen 3A is expressed in the nuclei of cells latently infected by the Epstein-Barr virus. We have previously shown that a fragment of 265 amino acids was essential for the proper subcellular localization of the Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigen 3A. As described in this paper, we have used deletion analysis to identify a decapeptide, RDRRRNPASR, which is essential for nuclear localization of this protein. Furthermore, this decapeptide is a functional nuclear localization signal as demonstrated by its ability to target expression of beta-galactosidase in the nuclei of transfected cells.