To determine whether TGF-β1 activation could be induced by HCMV strains other than TR, we utilized HCMV strain AD169 BADrUL131 (kindly provided by T. Shenk, Princeton University, Princeton NJ), which contains a repaired mutation of the UL131 open reading frame (ORF), permitting infection of epithelial cells [40]. The gene discussed is TGFB1; the disease is infection.