Since the ligands for TNF-α (TNFR1 and TNFR2), have both been shown to be modulated by HCMV infection (Browne et al., 2001; Le et al., 2011; Montag et al., 2011; Weekes et al., 2014), we first examined whether RNA1.2 influences surface expression of these receptors. Here, TNF is linked to cytomegalovirus infection.