Elevated Egr-1 expression activates lytic genes in KSHVinfected cells BCBL-1 cells have turned out to be a blessing in disguise for this study as they harbor KSHV DNA in a predominantly latent state [21] . BCBL-1 cells were transiently transfected using egr-1/ pCDNA3.1(+) for 24, 48, and 72 h ( Next, qRT-PCR studies were performed to identify changes in egr-1 and virus-encoded ORF50 gene expression. We did not observe any noticeable alterations in egr-1 and ORF50 transcription in target cells that were untransfected (UT), mock transfected, or transfected with empty vectors (Fig. 4B ). As expected, levels of egr-1 were significantly increased in cells transfected with egr-1/pCDNA3.1(+) over controls (Fig. 4B) . Furthermore, elevated egr-1 expression coincided with an increase in KSHV ORF50 transcription (Fig. 4B ). Peak expression for both genes was observed by 48 h post transfection (Fig. 4B) . Incidentally, we also observed an elevated expression of ORF8 (Fig. 4B ), encoding the late structural virus protein termed as gB, in response to an enhanced egr-1 and ORF50 expression. All these changes implicate Egr-1 expression to significantly induce virus reactivation.