from Deborah H. Spector writing in Cytomegaloviruses: From Molecular Pathogenesis to Intervention:
Successful replication of HCMV requires the deployment of multiple approaches to commandeer the host cell machinery and create a cellular milieu that is optimal for viral gene expression, DNA replication, and formation of infectious progeny. The complex regulatory network that drives cell cycle progression provides a rich source of factors that can be co-opted and combined in different ways to tailor the host cell's environment to meet the needs of the virus for productive infection. To this end, HCMV dramatically alters cell cycle regulatory pathways, leading to cell cycle arrest. These alterations begin as soon as the viral particle enters the cell and continue throughout the entire replicative cycle. The molecular mechanisms underlying the viral-mediated effects operate at multiple levels, including altered RNA transcription, inhibition of cell DNA synthesis, changes in the levels and activity of cyclin dependent kinases as well as other cellular kinases involved in cell cycle control, modulation of protein stability through targeted effects on the ubiquitin-proteasome degradation pathway, and movement of proteins to different cellular locations. This review will focus on the interplay between the viral and cellular factors and the mechanisms utilized to effect these changes as they relate to the cell cycle.
Further reading: Cytomegaloviruses: From Molecular Pathogenesis to Intervention