Dynamics of the cellular metabolome during human cytomegalovirus infection. Author Joshua Munger, Sunil Bajad, Hilary Coller, Thomas Shenk, Joshua Rabinowitz Publication Year 2006 Type Journal Article Abstract Viral replication requires energy and macromolecular precursors derived from the metabolic network of the host cell. Despite this reliance, the effect of viral infection on host cell metabolic composition remains poorly understood. Here we applied liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry to measure the levels of 63 different intracellular metabolites at multiple times after human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection of human fibroblasts. Parallel microarray analysis provided complementary data on transcriptional regulation of metabolic pathways. As the infection progressed, the levels of metabolites involved in glycolysis, the citric acid cycle, and pyrimidine nucleotide biosynthesis markedly increased. HCMV-induced transcriptional upregulation of specific glycolytic and citric acid cycle enzymes mirrored the increases in metabolite levels. The peak levels of numerous metabolites during infection far exceeded those observed during normal fibroblast growth or quiescence, demonstrating that HCMV markedly disrupts cellular metabolic homeostasis and institutes its own specific metabolic program. Keywords Cells, Cultured, Male, Humans, Cytomegalovirus, Citric Acid Cycle, Chromatography, Liquid, Fibroblasts, Virus Replication, Homeostasis, Glycolysis, Cytomegalovirus Infections, Tandem Mass Spectrometry, Pyrimidine Nucleotides Journal PLoS Pathog Volume 2 Issue 12 Pages e132 Date Published 12/2006 Alternate Journal PLoS Pathog. Google ScholarBibTeXEndNote X3 XML