Influenza viruses typically cause the most severe disease in children and elderly individuals. However, H1N1 viruses disproportionately affected middle-aged adults during the 2013-2014 influenza season. Although H1N1 viruses recently acquired several mutations in the hemagglutinin (HA) glycoprotein, classic serological tests used by surveillance laboratories indicate that these mutations do not change antigenic properties of the virus. Here, we show that one of these mutations is located in a region of HA targeted by antibodies elicited in many middle-aged adults. We find that over 42% of individuals born between 1965 and 1979 possess antibodies that recognize this region of HA. Our findings offer a possible antigenic explanation of why middle-aged adults were highly susceptible to H1N1 viruses during the 2013-2014 influenza season. Our data further suggest that a drifted H1N1 strain should be included in future influenza vaccines to potentially reduce morbidity and mortality in this age group. influenza | antigenic drift | hemagglutinin | antibody | vaccine

Dendritic cells can capture and transfer retroviruses in vitro across synaptic cell-cell contacts to uninfected cells, a process called trans-infection. Whether trans-infection contributes to retroviral spread in vivo remains unknown. Here, we visualize how retroviruses disseminate in secondary lymphoid tissues of living mice. We demonstrate that murine leukemia virus (MLV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are first captured by sinus-lining macrophages. CD169/Siglec-1, an I-type lectin that recognizes gangliosides, captures the virus. MLV-laden macrophages then form long-lived synaptic contacts to trans-infect B-1 cells. Infected B-1 cells subsequently migrate into the lymph node to spread the infection through virological synapses. Robust infection in lymph nodes and spleen requires CD169, suggesting that a combination of fluid-based movement followed by CD169-dependent trans-infection can contribute to viral spread.

Viral proteins mimic host protein structure and function to redirect cellular processes and subvert innate defenses1. Small basic proteins compact and regulate both viral and cellular DNA genomes. Nucleosomes are the repeating units of cellular chromatin and play an important role in innate immune responses2. Viral encoded core basic proteins compact viral genomes but their impact on host chromatin structure and function remains unexplored. Adenoviruses encode a highly basic protein called protein VII that resembles cellular histones3. Although protein VII binds viral DNA and is incorporated with viral genomes into virus particles4,5, it is unknown whether protein VII impacts cellular chromatin. Our observation that protein VII alters cellular chromatin led us to hypothesize that this impacts antiviral responses during adenovirus infection. We found that protein VII forms complexes with nucleosomes and limits DNA accessibility. We identified post-translational modifications on protein VII that are responsible for chromatin localization. Furthermore, proteomic analysis demonstrated that protein VII is sufficient to alter protein composition of host chromatin. We found that protein VII is necessary and sufficient for retention in chromatin of members of the high-mobility group protein B family (HMGB1, HMGB2, and HMGB3). HMGB1 is actively released in response to inflammatory stimuli and functions as a danger signal to activate immune responses6,7. We showed that protein VII can directly bind HMGB1 in vitro and further demonstrated that protein VII expression in mouse lungs is sufficient to decrease inflammation-induced HMGB1 content and neutrophil recruitment in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Together our in vitro and in vivo results show that protein VII sequesters HMGB1 and can prevent its release. This study uncovers a viral strategy in which nucleosome binding is exploited to control extracellular immune signaling.

Herpes simplex virus (HSV-1) lytic infection results in global changes to the host cell proteome and the proteins associated with host chromatin. We present a system level characterization of proteome dynamics during infection by performing a multi-dimensional analysis during HSV-1 lytic infection of human foreskin fibroblast (HFF) cells. Our study includes identification and quantification of the host and viral proteomes, phosphoproteomes, chromatin bound proteomes and post-translational modifications (PTMs) on cellular histones during infection. We analyzed proteomes across six time points of virus infection (0, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15 h post-infection) and clustered trends in abundance using fuzzy c-means. Globally, we accurately quantified more than 4000 proteins, 200 differently modified histone peptides and 9000 phosphorylation sites on cellular proteins. In addition, we identified 67 viral proteins and quantified 571 phosphorylation events (465 with high confidence site localization) on viral proteins, which is currently the most comprehensive map of HSV-1 phosphoproteome. We investigated chromatin bound proteins by proteomic analysis of the high-salt chromatin fraction and identified 510 proteins that were significantly different in abundance during infection. We found 53 histone marks significantly regulated during virus infection, including a steady increase of histone H3 acetylation (H3K9ac and H3K14ac). Our data provide a resource of unprecedented depth for human and viral proteome dynamics during infection. Collectively, our results indicate that the proteome composition of the chromatin of HFF cells is highly affected during HSV-1 infection, and that phosphorylation events are abundant on viral proteins. We propose that our epi-proteomics approach will prove to be important in the characterization of other model infectious systems that involve changes to chromatin composition. Molecular & Cellular Proteomics 16: 10.1074/mcp.M116.065987, S92-S107, 2017. Herpes simplex virus (HSV-1)1 leads to a contagious and persistent infection that affects about 95% of the human population. The HSV-1 genome is a double-stranded DNA molecule that replicates in the host cell nucleus (1). HSV-1 initially infects epithelial cells as a lytic infection, and then enters peripheral neurons where it establishes latency (2, 3). Processes such as viral transcription, viral DNA synthesis, virion assembly and DNA packaging take place in discrete virus-induced structures within the nucleus called replication compartments (1, 4). These processes are temporally regulated by the viral cascades of immediate-early (IE), early (E), and late (L) gene expression. The IE proteins are primarily responsible for counteracting intrinsic host defenses and for activating expression of early-phase genes (1). Early viral pro-

X et al. (2017) Adenovirus-mediated gene delivery: potential applications for gene and cell-based therapies in the new era of personalized medicine. Genes Dis 4, 43-63. 7 Wold WSM and Toth K (2013) Adenovirus vectors for gene therapy, vaccination and cancer gene therapy. Curr Gene Ther 13, 421-433.

The mosquito-transmitted bunyavirus, Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV), is a highly successful pathogen for which there are no vaccines or therapeutics. Translational arrest is a common antiviral strategy used by hosts. In response, RVFV inhibits two well-known antiviral pathways that attenuate translation during infection, PKR and type I IFN signaling. Despite this, translational arrest occurs during RVFV infection by unknown mechanisms. Here, we find that RVFV infection triggers the decay of core translation machinery mRNAs that possess a 5′-terminal oligopyrimidine (5′-TOP) motif in their 5′-UTR, including mRNAs encoding ribosomal proteins, which leads to a decrease in overall ribosomal protein levels. We find that the RNA decapping enzyme NUDT16 selectively degrades 5′-TOP mRNAs during RVFV infection and this decay is triggered in response to mTOR attenuation via the translational repressor 4EBP1/2 axis. Translational arrest of 5′-TOPs via 4EBP1/2 restricts RVFV replication, and this increased RNA decay results in the loss of visible RNA granules, including P bodies and stress granules. Because RVFV capsnatches in RNA granules, the increased level of 5′-TOP mRNAs in this compartment leads to snatching of these targets, which are translationally suppressed during infection. Therefore, translation of RVFV mRNAs is compromised by multiple mechanisms during infection. Together, these data present a previously unknown mechanism for translational shutdown in response to viral infection and identify mTOR attenuation as a potential therapeutic avenue against bunyaviral infection.translational arrest | 5′-TOP mRNA | RNA decay | Rift Valley fever virus |

Viral manipulation of cellular proteins allows viruses to suppress host defenses and generate infectious progeny. Due to the linear double-stranded DNA nature of the adenovirus genome, the cellular DNA damage response (DDR) is considered a barrier for successful infection. The adenovirus genome is packaged with protein VII, a viral-encoded histone-like core protein that is suggested to protect incoming viral genomes from detection by cellular DNA damage machinery. We showed that protein VII localizes to host chromatin during infection, leading us to hypothesize that protein VII may affect DNA damage responses on the cellular genome. Here, we show that protein VII at cellular chromatin results in a significant decrease in accumulation of phosphorylated H2AX (γH2AX) following irradiation, indicating that protein VII inhibits DDR signaling. The oncoprotein SET was recently suggested to modulate the DDR by affecting access of repair proteins to chromatin. Since protein VII binds SET, we investigated a role for SET in DDR inhibition by protein VII. We show that knockdown of SET partially rescues the protein VII-induced decrease in γH2AX accumulation on the host genome, suggesting that SET is required for inhibition. Finally, we show that knockdown of SET also allows ATM to localize to incoming viral genomes bound by protein VII during infection with a mutant lacking early region E4. Together, our data suggest that the protein VII-SET interaction contributes to DDR evasion by adenovirus. Our results provide an additional example of a strategy used by adenovirus to manipulate the host DDR and show how viruses can modify cellular processes through manipulation of host chromatin. The DNA damage response (DDR) is a cellular network crucial for maintaining genome integrity. DNA viruses replicating in the nucleus challenge the resident genome and must overcome cellular responses, including the DDR. Adenoviruses are prevalent human pathogens that can cause a multitude of diseases such as respiratory infections and conjunctivitis. Here we describe how a small adenovirus core protein that localizes to host chromatin during infection can globally down-regulate the DDR. Our study focuses on key players in the damage signaling pathway and highlights how viral manipulation of chromatin may influence access of DDR proteins to the host genome.

Nucleosomes are the core units of cellular chromatin and are comprised of 147 base pairs (bp) of DNA wrapped around an octamer of histone proteins. Proteins such as chromatin remodelers, transcription factors, and DNA repair proteins interact dynamically with chromatin to regulate access to DNA, control gene transcription, and maintain genome integrity. The extent of association with chromatin changes rapidly in response to stresses, such as immune activation, oxidative stress, or viral infection, resulting in downstream effects on chromatin conformation and transcription of target genes. To elucidate changes in the composition of proteins associated with chromatin under different conditions, we adapted existing protocols to isolate nuclei and fractionate cellular chromatin using a gradient of salt concentrations. The presence of specific proteins in different salt fractions can be assessed by Western blotting or mass spectrometry, providing insight into the degree to which they are associated with chromatin.