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. 2012 Sep 6;8(9):e1002904. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1002904

Figure 7. A hypothetical model of the interaction among EBV BFRF1 and cellular ESCRT components in vesicle formation and modulation of the nuclear membrane.

Figure 7

After EBV reactivation, membrane anchoring BFRF1 targets to the nucleus associated membranes. BFRF1 potentially regulates the membrane through protein oligomerization and then recruits Alix and, sequentially, other ESCRT components to derive the vesicles from the double layer nuclear envelope (A), outer nuclear membrane (ONM) or from inner nuclear membrane (INM) (B). These nuclear membrane-derived vesicles may contain some nucleoporins and other INM proteins, such as lamin A/C or emerin. Cooperating with other viral factors, such as BFLF2, the BFRF1-mediated vesicles may further recruit and pack some nucleocapsids for the subsequent nuclear egress. Additionally, the expression of BFRF1 induces the formation of multilayered cisternal nuclear membranes (C), which may provide more membranous structure for viral budding. ER, endoplasmic reticulum. NPC, nuclear pore complex.