FIG. 4.

HCMV egress. DNA-containing capsids may associate with some tegument proteins while still in the nucleus. After exiting the nucleus by an envelopment-deenvelopment pathway (not shown), they acquire more tegument proteins in the cytoplasm. Tegumented capsids migrate to assembly sites located on Golgi apparatus-derived vesicles, where they obtain their final envelope that contains viral glycoproteins. The eventual fusion of these vesicles with the cell membrane results in the release of fully formed virions. The pp150 protein likely plays a role in directing capsids to assembly sites, and the pp28 protein likely plays a role in the formation of viral particles. Symbols are as shown in Fig. 1.