The Nucleic Acid Binding Protein SFPQ Represses EBV Lytic Reactivation by Promoting Histone H1 Expression
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ABSTRACT: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) uses a biphasic lifecycle of latency and lytic reactivation to infect >95% of adults worldwide. Despite its central role in EBV persistence and oncogenesis, much remains unknown about how EBV latency is maintained. We used a human genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 screen to identify that the nuclear protein SFPQ was critical for latency. SFPQ supported expression of linker histone H1, which stabilizes nucleosomes and regulates nuclear architecture, but has not been previously implicated in EBV gene regulation. H1 occupied latent EBV genomes, including the immediate early gene BZLF1 promoter. Upon reactivation, SFPQ was sequestered into sub-nuclear puncta, and EBV genomic H1 occupancy diminished. Enforced H1 expression blocked EBV reactivation upon SFPQ knockout, confirming it as necessary downstream of SFPQ. SFPQ knockout triggered reactivation of EBV in B and epithelial cells as well as in Kaposi’s Sarcoma Associated Herpesvirus, suggesting a conserved gamma-herpesvirus role. These findings highlight SFPQ as a major regulator of H1 expression and EBV latency.
Project description:Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) contributes to ~1.5% of human cancers, including lymphomas, gastric and nasopharyngeal carcinomas. In most of these, nearly 80 viral lytic genes are silenced by incompletely understood epigenetic mechanisms, precluding use of antiviral agents such as ganciclovir to treat the 200,000 EBV-associated cancers/year. To identify host factors critical for EBV latency, we performed a human genome-wide CRISPR-Cas9 screen in Burkitt B-cells. Top hits included the lysine-specific histone demethylase LSD1 and its co-repressors ZNF217 and CoREST. LSD1 removes histone 3 lysine 4 (H3K4) and histone 3 lysine 9 (H3K9) methylation marks to downmodulate chromatin activation. LSD1, ZNF217 or CoREST knockout triggered EBV reactivation, as did a LSD1 small molecule antagonist, whose effects were additive with histone deacetylase inhibition. LSD1 blockade reactivated EBV in Burkitt lymphoma, gastric carcinoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma models, sensitized cells to ganciclovir cytotoxicity and induced EBV reactivation in murine xenografts. ZNF217 and LSD1 co-occupied the EBV immediate early gene BZLF1 promoter, which drives B-cell lytic cycle, as well as to the oriLyt enhancer regions recently implicated in EBV reactivation. LSD1 depletion increased levels of activating histone 3 lysine 4 (H3K4) methylation but not repressive histone lysine 9 methylation marks at BZLF1 and oriLyt and induced their interaction by long-range DNA looping. An orthogonal CRISPR screen highlighted a key H3K4 methyltransferase KMT2D role in driving EBV reactivation. Our results highlight H3K4 methylation as a major EBV lytic switch regulator and suggest novel therapeutic approaches.
Project description:As a human tumor virus, EBV is present as a latent infection in its associated malignancies where genetic and epigenetic changes have been shown to impede cellular differentiation and viral reactivation. One such change is increased levels of the Wnt signaling effector, lymphoid enhancer binding factor 1 (LEF1) following EBV epithelial infection. In silico analysis of EBV type 1 and 2 genomes identified over 20 Wnt-response elements suggesting that LEF1 may directly bind the EBV genome and regulate the viral life cycle. Using CUT&RUN-seq, LEF1 was shown to bind the latent EBV genome at various sites encoding viral lytic products that included the immediate early transactivator BZLF1 and viral primase BSLF1 genes. SiRNA depletion of specific LEF1 isoforms revealed that the alternative-promoter derived isoform with an N-terminal truncation (∆N LEF1) transcriptionally repressed lytic genes associated with LEF1 binding. Furthermore, forced expression of the ∆N LEF1 isoform antagonized EBV reactivation from latency. The LEF1 mediated repression requires histone deacetylase activity through either recruitment or a direct intrinsic histone deacetylase activity. SiRNA depletion of LEF1 resulted in increased histone 3 lysine 9 and lysine 27 acetylation at LEF1 binding sites and across the EBV genome. These results support a novel role for LEF1 in maintaining EBV latency and restriction viral reactivation via repressive chromatin remodeling of critical lytic cycle factors
Project description:Several cellular factors, including the nuclear lamina, regulate chromatin composition and architecture. While the interaction of the viral genome with the nuclear lamina has been studied in the context of EBV lytic reactivation, the role of the nuclear lamina in controlling EBV latency has not been investigated. Here, we report that the nuclear lamina is an essential epigenetic regulator of the EBV episome.
Project description:Oncoproteins such as the BRAFV600E kinase entrust cancer cells with malignant properties, but they also create unique vulnerabilies. Therapeutic targeting of the BRAFV600E-driven cytoplasmic signaling network has proven ineffective, since patients regularly relapse with reactivation of the targeted signaling pathways. Here, we identified the nuclear protein SFPQ to be synthetically lethal with BRAFV600E in a loss-of-function shRNA screen. SFPQ depletion decreased proliferation and induced apoptosis in BRAFV600E-driven colorectal and melanoma cells, and reduced tumor growth in xenografts. Mechanistically, SFPQ loss in BRAF-mutant cancer cells triggered the Chk1-dependent replication checkpoint, resulting in replication stress in the absence of overt DNA damage. Affected cells stalled in S-Phase with hallmark signs of impaired replication factories. Induction of BRAFV600E and concomitant loss of SFPQ sensitized cells to a combination of DNA replication checkpoint inhibitors and chemically induced replication stress, pointing towards future therapeutic approaches exploiting nuclear vulnerabilities induced by BRAFV600E.
Project description:Oncoproteins such as the BRAFV600E kinase entrust cancer cells with malignant properties, but they also create unique vulnerabilies. Therapeutic targeting of the BRAFV600E-driven cytoplasmic signaling network has proven ineffective, since patients regularly relapse with reactivation of the targeted signaling pathways. Here, we identified the nuclear protein SFPQ to be synthetically lethal with BRAFV600E in a loss-of-function shRNA screen. SFPQ depletion decreased proliferation and induced apoptosis in BRAFV600E-driven colorectal and melanoma cells, and reduced tumor growth in xenografts. Mechanistically, SFPQ loss in BRAF-mutant cancer cells triggered the Chk1-dependent replication checkpoint, resulting in replication stress in the absence of overt DNA damage. Affected cells stalled in S-Phase with hallmark signs of impaired replication factories. Induction of BRAFV600E and concomitant loss of SFPQ sensitized cells to a combination of DNA replication checkpoint inhibitors and chemically induced replication stress, pointing towards future therapeutic approaches exploiting nuclear vulnerabilities induced by BRAFV600E.
Project description:The parental DG75 cell line is EBV negative and cannot express the viral BZLF1 protein, thus, this set of experiments served as a negative control. After ChIP, peaks were identified in both the human and viral (EBV (Human Herpesvirus 4) genome KF717093.1) genome. Only few peaks were identified. Experiments were performed as duplicates.
Project description:Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is present in a state of latency in infected memory B-cells and EBV-associated lymphoid and epithelial cancers. Cell stimulation or differentiation of infected B-cells and epithelial cells induces reactivation to the lytic replication cycle. In each cell type, the EBV transcription and replication factor Zta (BZLF1, EB1) plays a role in mediating the lytic cycle of EBV. Zta is a transcription factor that interacts directly with Zta response elements (ZREs) within viral and cellular genomes. Here we undertake chromatin-precipitation coupled to DNA-sequencing (ChIP-Seq) of Zta-associated DNA from cancer-derived epithelial cells. The analysis identified over 14,000 Zta-binding sites in the cellular genome. We assessed the impact of lytic cycle reactivation on changes in gene expression for a panel of Zta-associated cellular genes. Finally, we compared the Zta-binding sites identified in this study with those previously identified in B-cells and reveal substantial conservation in genes associated with Zta-binding sites.
Project description:Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has a lifelong latency period after initial infection. Rarely, however, when the EBV immediate early gene BZLF1 is expressed by a specific stimulus, the virus switches to the lytic cycle to produce progeny viruses. We found that EBV infection reduced levels of various ceramide species in gastric cancer cells. As ceramide is a bioactive lipid implicated in the infection of various viruses, we assessed the effect of ceramide on the EBV lytic cycle. Treatment with C6-ceramide (C6-Cer) induced an increase in the endogenous ceramide pool and increased production of the viral product as well as BZLF1 expression. Treatment with the ceramidase inhibitor ceranib-2 induced EBV lytic replication with an increase in the endogenous ceramide pool. The glucosylceramide synthase inhibitor Genz-123346 inhibited C6-Cer-induced lytic replication. C6-Cer induced ERK1/2 and CREB phosphorylation, c-JUN expression, and accumulation of the autophagosome marker LC3B. Treatment with MEK1/2 inhibitor U0126 or autophagy initiation inhibitor 3-MA suppressed C6-Cer-induced EBV lytic replication. In contrast, the autophagosome-lysosome fusion inhibitor chloroquine induced BZLF1 expression. Transfection with siCREB reduced ERK1/2 phosphorylation and C6-Cer-induced BZLF1 expression. On the other hand, siJUN transfection did not affect BZLF1 expression. Our results show that increased endogenous ceramide and glycosyl ceramide (GlyCer) following C6-Cer treatment induce EBV lytic replication in gastric cancer cells via ERK1/2 and CREB phosphorylation and autophagosome accumulation.
Project description:HHV-6A is a human herpesvirus that integrates into human sub telomeric regions to acquire latency. This latent virus frequently reactivates causing numerous diseases. The project was aimed to understand changes in host cell prteomics upon virus reactivation, which might helpin understanding the pathophysiology of virus reactivation.