Viral Regulation of Cell Tropism in Human Cytomegalovirus

The viral glycoproteins that decorate enveloped viruses play crucial roles in cell entry and in large part dictate the spectrum of cell types that a virus can infect. The identification in human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) of a viral endoplasmic reticulum (ER)resident glycoprotein that regulates the composition of alternative viral envelope glycoprotein complexes raises the intriguing possibility that certain viruses might actively regulate the tropism of progeny virions to improve their fitness or to navigate through the host.