ATM and cytomegalovirus infection: Because it was reported that HCMV infection or expression of IE1 or IE2 can activate ATM as measured by autophosphorylation on Ser1981 [8], [10], we asked whether HCMV could induce the formation of DNA damage sensing foci containing γH2AX, an event downstream of ATM activation and other DNA damage-activated kinases [26], [27], [28].