scholarly journals Infection by Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Causes Near-Complete Loss of RNA Polymerase II Occupancy on the Host Cell Genome

2015 ◽  
Vol 90 (5) ◽  
pp. 2503-2513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert G. Abrisch ◽  
Tess M. Eidem ◽  
Petro Yakovchuk ◽  
Jennifer F. Kugel ◽  
James A. Goodrich

ABSTRACTLytic infection by herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) triggers a change in many host cell programs as the virus strives to express its own genes and replicate. Part of this process is repression of host cell transcription by RNA polymerase II (Pol II), which also transcribes the viral genome. Here, we describe a global characterization of Pol II occupancy on the viral and host genomes in response to HSV-1 infection using chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by deep sequencing (ChIP-seq). The data reveal near-complete loss of Pol II occupancy throughout host cell mRNA genes, in both their bodies and promoter-proximal regions. Increases in Pol II occupancy of host cell genes, which would be consistent with robust transcriptional activation, were not observed. HSV-1 infection induced a more potent and widespread repression of Pol II occupancy than did heat shock, another cellular stress that widely represses transcription. Concomitant with the loss of host genome Pol II occupancy, we observed Pol II covering the HSV-1 genome, reflecting a high level of viral gene transcription. Interestingly, the positions of the peaks of Pol II occupancy at HSV-1 and host cell promoters were different. The primary peak of Pol II occupancy at HSV-1 genes is ∼170 bp upstream of where it is positioned at host cell genes, suggesting that specific steps in transcription are regulated differently at HSV-1 genes than at host cell mRNA genes.IMPORTANCEWe investigated the effect of herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) infection on transcription of host cell and viral genes by RNA polymerase II (Pol II). The approach we used was to determine how levels of genome-bound Pol II changed after HSV-1 infection. We found that HSV-1 caused a profound loss of Pol II occupancy across the host cell genome. Increases in Pol II occupancy were not observed, showing that no host genes were activated after infection. In contrast, Pol II occupied the entire HSV-1 genome. Moreover, the pattern of Pol II at HSV-1 genes differed from that on host cell genes, suggesting a unique mode of viral gene transcription. These studies provide new insight into how HSV-1 causes changes in the cellular program of gene expression and how the virus coopts host Pol II for its own use.

2019 ◽  
Vol 94 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire H. Birkenheuer ◽  
Joel D. Baines

ABSTRACT Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) genes are transcribed by cellular RNA polymerase II (Pol II). Expression of viral immediate early (α) genes is followed sequentially by early (β), late (γ1), and true late (γ2) genes. We used precision nuclear run-on with deep sequencing to map and to quantify Pol II on the HSV-1(F) genome with single-nucleotide resolution. Approximately 30% of total Pol II relocated to viral genomes within 3 h postinfection (hpi), when it occupied genes of all temporal classes. At that time, Pol II on α genes accumulated most heavily at promoter-proximal pause (PPP) sites located ∼60 nucleotides downstream of the transcriptional start site, while β genes bore Pol II more evenly across gene bodies. At 6 hpi, Pol II increased on γ1 and γ2 genes while Pol II pausing remained prominent on α genes. At that time, average cytoplasmic mRNA expression from α and β genes decreased, relative to levels at 3 hpi, while γ1 relative expression increased slightly and γ2 expression increased more substantially. Cycloheximide treatment during the first 3 h reduced the amount of Pol II associated with the viral genome and confined most of the remaining Pol II to α gene PPP sites. Inhibition of both cyclin-dependent kinase 9 activity and viral DNA replication reduced Pol II on the viral genome and restricted much of the remaining Pol II to PPP sites. IMPORTANCE These data suggest that viral transcription is regulated not only by Pol II recruitment to viral genes but also by control of elongation into viral gene bodies. We provide a detailed map of Pol II occupancy on the HSV-1 genome that clarifies features of the viral transcriptome, including the first identification of Pol II PPP sites. The data indicate that Pol II is recruited to late genes early in infection. Comparing α and β gene occupancy at PPP sites and gene bodies suggests that Pol II is released more efficiently into the bodies of β genes than α genes at 3 hpi and that repression of α gene expression late in infection is mediated by prolonged promoter-proximal pausing. In addition, DNA replication is required to maintain full Pol II occupancy on viral DNA and to promote elongation on late genes later in infection.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam W Whisnant ◽  
Oliver Mathias Dyck Dionisi ◽  
Arnhild Grothey ◽  
Julia M Rappold ◽  
Ana Luiza Marante ◽  
...  

Transcriptional activity of RNA polymerase II (Pol II) is orchestrated by post-translational modifications of the C-terminal domain (CTD) of the largest Pol II subunit, RPB1. Herpes Simplex Virus type 1 (HSV-1) usurps the cellular transcriptional machinery during lytic infection to efficiently express viral mRNA and shut down host gene expression. The viral immediate-early protein ICP22 interferes with serine 2 phosphorylation (pS2) of the Pol II CTD by targeting CDK9. The functional implications of this are poorly understood. Here, we report that HSV-1 also induces a global loss of serine 7 phosphorylation (pS7). This effect was dependent on the expression of the two viral immediate-early proteins, ICP22 and ICP27. While lytic HSV-1 infection results in efficient Pol II degradation late in infection, we show that pS2/S7 loss precedes the drop in Pol II level. Interestingly, mutation of the RPB1 polyubiquitination site mutation K1268, which prevents proteasomal RPB1 degradation during transcription-coupled DNA repair, displayed loss of pS2/S7 but retained much higher overall RPB1 protein levels even at late times of infection, indicating that this pathway mediates bulk Pol II protein loss late in infection but is not involved in early CTD dysregulation. Using α-amanitin-resistant CTD mutants, we observed differential requirements for Ser2 and Ser7 for production of viral proteins, with Ser2 facilitating viral immediate-early gene expression and Ser7 appearing dispensable. Despite dysregulation of CTD phosphorylation and different requirements for Ser2/7, all CTD modifications tested could be visualized in viral replication compartments by immunofluorescence. These data expand the known means that HSV-1 employs to create pro-viral transcriptional environments at the expense of host responses.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah E Dremel ◽  
Frances L Sivrich ◽  
Jessica M Tucker ◽  
Britt A Glaunsinger ◽  
Neal A DeLuca

RNA Polymerase III (Pol III) transcribes noncoding RNA, including transfer RNA (tRNA), and acts as a pathogen sensor during the innate immune response. To promote enhanced proliferation, the Pol III machinery is commonly targeted during cancer and viral infection. Herein we employ DM-RNA-Seq, 4SU-Seq, ChIP-Seq, and ATAC-Seq to characterize how Herpes Simplex Virus-1 (HSV-1) perturbs the Pol III landscape. We find that HSV-1 stimulates tRNA expression 10-fold, with mature tRNAs exhibiting a 2-fold increase within 12 hours of infection. Perturbation of host tRNA synthesis requires nuclear viral entry, but not synthesis of specific viral transcripts, nascent viral genomes, or viral progeny. Host tRNA with a specific codon bias were not targeted, rather increased transcription was observed from euchromatic, actively transcribed loci. tRNA upregulation is linked to unique crosstalk between the Pol II and III transcriptional machinery. While viral infection is known to mediate host transcriptional shut off and lead to a depletion of Pol II on host mRNA promoters, we find that Pol II binding to tRNA loci increases. Finally, we report Pol III and associated factors bind the HSV genome, which suggests a previously unrecognized role in HSV-1 gene expression. These data provide insight into novel mechanisms by which HSV-1 alters the host nuclear environment, shifting key processes in favor of the pathogen.


2016 ◽  
Vol 90 (24) ◽  
pp. 11279-11279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert G. Abrisch ◽  
Tess M. Eidem ◽  
Petro Yakovchuk ◽  
Jennifer F. Kugel ◽  
James A. Goodrich

Author(s):  
Thomas Rivas ◽  
James A. Goodrich ◽  
Jennifer F. Kugel

Infection by herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) impacts nearly all steps of host cell gene expression. The regulatory mechanisms by which this occurs, and the interplay between host and viral factors, have yet to be fully elucidated. We investigated how the occupancy of RNA polymerase II (Pol II) on the host genome changes during HSV-1 infection and is impacted by the viral immediate early protein ICP4. Pol II ChIP-seq experiments revealed ICP4-dependent decreases and increases in Pol II levels across the bodies of hundreds of genes. Our data suggest ICP4 represses host transcription by inhibiting recruitment of Pol II and activates host genes by promoting release of Pol II from promoter proximal pausing into productive elongation. Consistent with this, ICP4 was required for the decrease in levels of the pausing factor NELF-A on several HSV-1 activated genes after infection. In the absence of infection, exogenous expression of ICP4 activated, but did not repress, transcription of some genes in a chromatin-dependent context. Our data support the model that ICP4 decreases promoter proximal pausing on host genes activated by infection, and ICP4 is necessary, but not sufficient, to repress transcription of host genes during viral infection.


2006 ◽  
Vol 80 (7) ◽  
pp. 3567-3581 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Q. Dai-Ju ◽  
Ling Li ◽  
Lisa A. Johnson ◽  
Rozanne M. Sandri-Goldin

ABSTRACT Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) ICP27 has been shown to interact with RNA polymerase II (RNAP II) holoenzyme. Here, we show that ICP27 interacts with the C-terminal domain (CTD) of RNAP II and that ICP27 mutants that cannot interact fail to relocalize RNAP II to viral transcription sites, suggesting a role for ICP27 in RNAP II recruitment. Using monoclonal antibodies specific for different phosphorylated forms of the RNAP II CTD, we found that the serine-2 phosphorylated form, which is found predominantly in elongating complexes, was not recruited to viral transcription sites. Further, there was an overall reduction in phosphoserine-2 staining. Western blot analysis revealed that there was a pronounced decrease in the phosphoserine-2 form and in overall RNAP II levels in lysates from cells infected with wild-type HSV-1. There was no appreciable difference in cdk9 levels, suggesting that protein degradation rather than dephosphorylation was occurring. Treatment of infected cells with proteasome inhibitors MG-132 and lactacystin prevented the decrease in the phosphoserine-2 form and in overall RNAP II levels; however, there was a concomitant decrease in the levels of several HSV-1 late proteins and in virus yield. Proteasomal degradation has been shown to resolve stalled RNAP II complexes at sites of DNA damage to allow 3′ processing of transcripts. Thus, we propose that at later times of infection when robust transcription and DNA replication are occurring, elongating complexes may collide and proteasomal degradation may be required for resolution.


2018 ◽  
Vol 92 (8) ◽  
pp. e02184-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire H. Birkenheuer ◽  
Charles G. Danko ◽  
Joel D. Baines

ABSTRACTHerpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) transcription is mediated by cellular RNA polymerase II (Pol II). Recent studies investigating how Pol II transcription of host genes is altered after HSV-1 are conflicting. Chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) studies suggest that Pol II is almost completely removed from host genes at 4 h postinfection (hpi), while 4-thiouridine (4SU) labeling experiments show that host transcription termination is extended at 7 hpi, implying that a significant amount of Pol II remains associated with host genes in infected cells. To address this discrepancy, we used precision nuclear run-on analysis (PRO-seq) to determine the location of Pol II to single-base-pair resolution in combination with quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis at 3 hpi. HSV-1 decreased Pol II on approximately two-thirds of cellular genes but increased Pol II on others. For more than 85% of genes for which transcriptional termination could be statistically assessed, Pol II was displaced to positions downstream of the normal termination zone, suggesting extensive termination defects. Pol II amounts at the promoter, promoter-proximal pause site, and gene body were also modulated in a gene-specific manner. qRT-PCR of selected RNAs showed that HSV-1-induced extension of the termination zone strongly correlated with decreased RNA and mRNA accumulation. However, HSV-1-induced increases of Pol II occupancy on genes without termination zone extension correlated with increased cytoplasmic mRNA. Functional grouping of genes with increased Pol II occupancy suggested an upregulation of exosome secretion and downregulation of apoptosis, both of which are potentially beneficial to virus production.IMPORTANCEThis study provides a map of RNA polymerase II location on host genes after infection with HSV-1 with greater detail than previous ChIP-seq studies and rectifies discrepancies between ChIP-seq data and 4SU labeling experiments with HSV-1. The data show the effects that a given change in RNA Pol II location on host genes has on the abundance of different RNA types, including nuclear, polyadenylated mRNA and cytoplasmic, polyadenylated mRNA. It gives a clearer understanding of how HSV-1 augments host transcription of some genes to provide an environment favorable to HSV-1 replication.


2015 ◽  
Vol 89 (14) ◽  
pp. 7159-7169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qing Fan ◽  
Richard Longnecker ◽  
Sarah A. Connolly

ABSTRACTWhereas most viruses require only a single protein to bind to and fuse with cells, herpesviruses use multiple glycoproteins to mediate virus entry, and thus communication among these proteins is required. For most alphaherpesviruses, the minimal set of viral proteins required for fusion with the host cell includes glycoproteins gD, gB, and a gH/gL heterodimer. In the current model of entry, gD binds to a cellular receptor and transmits a signal to gH/gL. This signal then triggers gB, the conserved fusion protein, to insert into the target membrane and refold to merge the viral and cellular membranes. We previously demonstrated that gB homologs from two alphaherpesviruses, herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) and saimiriine herpesvirus 1 (SaHV-1), were interchangeable. In contrast, neither gD nor gH/gL functioned with heterotypic entry glycoproteins, indicating that gD and gH/gL exhibit an essential type-specific functional interaction. To map this homotypic interaction site on gH/gL, we generated HSV-1/SaHV-1 gH and gL chimeras. The functional interaction with HSV-1 gD mapped to the N-terminal domains I and II of the HSV-1 gH ectodomain. The core of HSV-1 gL that interacts with gH also was required for functional homotypic interaction. The N-terminal gH/gL domains I and II are the least conserved and may have evolved to support species-specific glycoprotein interactions.IMPORTANCEThe first step of the herpesvirus life cycle is entry into a host cell. A coordinated interaction among multiple viral glycoproteins is required to mediate fusion of the viral envelope with the cell membrane. The details of how these glycoproteins interact to trigger fusion are unclear. By swapping the entry glycoproteins of two alphaherpesviruses (HSV-1 and SaHV-1), we previously demonstrated a functional homotypic interaction between gD and gH/gL. To define the gH and gL requirements for homotypic interaction, we evaluated the function of a panel of HSV-1/SaHV-1 gH and gL chimeras. We demonstrate that domains I and II of HSV-1 gH are sufficient to promote a functional, albeit reduced, interaction with HSV-1 gD. These findings contribute to our model of how the entry glycoproteins cooperate to mediate herpesvirus entry into the cell.


2007 ◽  
Vol 81 (10) ◽  
pp. 5091-5101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn A. Fraser ◽  
Stephen A. Rice

ABSTRACT During eukaryotic mRNA transcription, the synthetic activity and mRNA processing factor interactions of RNA polymerase II (RNAP II) are regulated by phosphorylation of its carboxyl-terminal domain (CTD), with modification occurring primarily on serines 2 and 5 of the CTD. We previously showed that herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infection rapidly triggers the loss of RNAP II forms bearing serine 2 phosphorylation (Ser-2P RNAP II). Here we show that the HSV-1 immediate-early (IE) protein ICP22 is responsible for this effect during the IE phase of infection. This activity does not require the viral UL13 protein kinase, which is required for several other regulatory functions of ICP22. Additionally, we show that transient expression of ICP22 can trigger the loss of Ser-2P RNAP II in transfected cells. Thus, the ability of ICP22 to cause the loss of Ser-2 RNAP II does not require other viral factors or the context of the infected cell. Expression of the HSV-1 ICP22-related protein US1.5, which corresponds to residues 147 to 420 of ICP22, also triggers a loss of Ser-2P RNAP II in transfected cells, whereas expression of the varicella-zoster virus ICP22 homolog, ORF63, does not. Our study also provides evidence for a second, viral late gene-dependent pathway that triggers loss of Ser-2P RNAP II in infected cells, consistent with the recent work of Dai-Ju et al. (J. Q. Dai-Ju, L. Li, L. A. Johnson, and R. M. Sandri-Goldin, J. Virol. 80:3567-3581, 2006). Therefore, it appears that HSV-1 has evolved redundant mechanisms for triggering the loss of a specific phosphorylated form of RNAP II.


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