The Nuclear DNA Sensor IFI16 Acts as a Restriction Factor for Human Papillomavirus Replication through Epigenetic Modifications of the Viral Promoters

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IMPORTANCELike all herpesviruses, latency is an integral part of the life cycle of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), an etiological agent for many human cancers. Herpesviruses utilize viral and host factors to successfully evade the host immune system to maintain latency. Reactivation is a complex event where the latent episomal viral genome springs back to active transcription of lytic cycle genes. Our studies reveal that KSHV has evolved to utilize the innate immune sensor IFI16 to keep lytic cycle transcription in dormancy. We demonstrate that IFI16 binds to the lytic gene promoter, acts as a transcriptional repressor, and thereby helps to maintain latency. We also discovered that during the late stage of lytic replication, KSHV selectively degrades IFI16, thus relieving transcriptional repression. This is the first report to demonstrate the role of IFI16 in latency maintenance of a herpesvirus, and further understanding will lead to the development of strategies to eliminate latent infection. The human gammaherpesvirus Kaposi's sarcoma (KS)-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), also referred to as human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8), is an oncogenic virus etiologically associated with KS, primary effusion B-cell lymphoma (PEL) or body cavity B-cell lymphoma (BCBL), and plasmablastic multicentric Castleman's disease (pMCD) (1-3). In vivo, KSHV DNA and transcripts have been identified in human B cells, endothelial cells, epithelial cells, macrophages, and keratinocytes (3, 4). Similar to other herpesviruses, KSHV undergoes two distinguishable phases in its life cycle: latent and lytic infection (3, 4). During primary infection, KSHV initially establishes latent infection in specific target cells, during which multiple copies of the viral genome are stably maintained as extrachromosomal episomes (3,5). Only a few viral genes, primarily localized in the major latency locus of the genome, are expressed during this phase. These gene products bestow numerous essential functionalities to the dormant viral genome, such as evading host immune surveillance (6), promoting cellular proliferation (7-9), maintaining the viral episome (10), and tightly suppressing viral lytic gene expression (11). However, both spontaneous reactivation and induced reactivation of the latent genome occur, resulting in the systematic expression of the full repertoire of viral genes, which leads to viral genome replication and virion production (4). Previous studies suggested that lytic reactivation

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Nuclear Innate Immune DNA Sensor IFI16 Is Degraded during Lytic Reactivation of Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus (KSHV): Role of IFI16 in Maintenance of KSHV Latency

Roy

Dutta

Iqbal

et al. 2016

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“…The chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay was performed as previously described (39). Briefly, HFFs were infected with v65Rev or v65Stop at an MOI of 1 for 6 h and 36 h. ChIP assays were performed using the shearing optimization kit and the OneDay ChIP kit (Diagenode Europe).…”

Section: Cells and Virusesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Regulatory Interaction between the Cellular Restriction Factor IFI16 and Viral pp65 (pUL83) Modulates Viral Gene Expression and IFI16 Protein Stability

Biolatti

Dell’Oste

Pautasso

et al. 2016

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A key player in the intrinsic resistance against human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is the interferon-␥-inducible protein 16 (IFI16), which behaves as a viral DNA sensor in the first hours postinfection and as a repressor of viral gene transcription in the later stages. Previous studies on HCMV replication demonstrated that IFI16 binds to the viral protein kinase pUL97, undergoes phosphorylation, and relocalizes to the cytoplasm of infected cells. In this study, we demonstrate that the tegument protein pp65 (pUL83) recruits IFI16 to the promoter of the UL54 gene and downregulates viral replication, as shown by use of the HCMV mutant v65Stop, which lacks pp65 expression. Interestingly, at late time points of HCMV infection, IFI16 is stabilized by its interaction with pp65, which stood in contrast to IFI16 degradation, observed in herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1)-infected cells. Moreover, we found that its translocation to the cytoplasm, in addition to pUL97, strictly depends on pp65, as demonstrated with the HCMV mutant RV-VM1, which expresses a form of pp65 unable to translocate into the cytoplasm. Thus, these data reveal a dual role for pp65: during early infection, it modulates IFI16 activity at the promoter of immediate-early and early genes; subsequently, it delocalizes IFI16 from the nucleus into the cytoplasm, thereby stabilizing and protecting it from degradation. Overall, these data identify a novel activity of the pp65/IFI16 interactome involved in the regulation of UL54 gene expression and IFI16 stability during early and late phases of HCMV replication. IMPORTANCEThe DNA sensor IFI16, a member of the PYHIN proteins, restricts HCMV replication by impairing viral DNA synthesis. Using a mutant virus lacking the tegument protein pp65 (v65Stop), we demonstrate that pp65 recruits IFI16 to the early UL54 gene promoter. As a putative counteraction to its restriction activity, pp65 supports the nucleocytoplasmic export of IFI16, which was demonstrated with the viral mutant RV-VM1 expressing a nuclearly retained pp65. These data reveal a dual role of pp65 in IFI16 regulation: in the early phase of HCMV infection, it contributes to viral evasion from IFI16 restriction activity, while at later time points, it promotes the nuclear delocalization of IFI16, thereby stabilizing and protecting it from degradation. In the present work, we further clarify the mechanisms HCMV relies on to overcome intracellular innate immune restriction and provide new insights into the relevance of DNA-sensing restriction factor IFI16 during HCMV infection. Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a member of the Betaherpesvirinae subfamily of Herpesviridae. It is a widespread pathogen that infects the majority of the world's population by early adulthood (1). The virus establishes a lifelong infection with some cells being latently infected, a state in which the virus resides in a nonproductive form, while other cells show a low-level persistent productive infection in which the virus is not cleared from the organism and is periodically reactiv...

“…IFI16 has been implicated in the initiation of DNA virus-induced inflammasome signaling (5)(6)(7)(8), the transcription of antiviral cytokines and interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) (9)(10)(11), and the restriction of DNA virus replication (12)(13)(14)(15)(16). The importance of IFI16 in antiviral immunity is underscored by the identification of viral proteins that inhibit its antiviral activities.…”

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Relative Contributions of Herpes Simplex Virus 1 ICP0 and vhs to Loss of Cellular IFI16 Vary in Different Human Cell Types

Orzalli

Broekema

Knipe

2016

The herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) ICP0 protein is an E3 ubiquitin ligase that promotes the degradation of several host cell proteins. Most studies have found that ICP0 promotes the loss of IFI16 in infected cells, but one study reported that ICP0 was not necessary or sufficient for loss of IFI16 in a tumor-derived cell line. Therefore, in this study, we examined the requirement for ICP0 in promoting the loss of IFI16 in several normal and tumor-derived cell lines. HSV-1 infection resulted in an observable decrease of IFI16 protein levels in normal human foreskin fibroblasts (HFFs), normal oral keratinocytes (NOKs), and HeLa cells but not in U2OS cells. During infection with an ICP0-null virus, we observed a reduced loss of IFI16 in HFFs and NOKs but not in HeLa cells. Ectopic expression of ICP0 from a transfected plasmid was sufficient to promote the loss of IFI16 in HFFs and NOKs. In the absence of ICP0, we observed a delayed reduction of IFI16 protein that correlated with a reduction in the steadystate levels of IFI16 mRNA. In addition, we show that the ICP0-independent loss of IFI16 in HeLa cells is dependent in part on the activity of the viral virion host shutoff (vhs) tegument protein.Together, these results demonstrate that HSV-1 promotes the loss of IFI16 through at least two mechanisms: (i) by ICP0-dependent degradation of IFI16 and (ii) by vhs-dependent turnover of IFI16 mRNA. In addition, this study highlights a potential intrinsic difference between normal and tumor-derived cells for the activities of IFI16 and HSV-1 ICP0. IMPORTANCE HSV-1 is a ubiquitous virus that establishes a lifetime persistent infection in humans. The relative success of HSV-1 as a pathogen is, in part, dependent on the expression of viral proteins that counteract host intrinsic defense mechanisms and that modulate immune responses during viral infection.In this study, we examined the relative roles of two viral gene products for the ability to promote loss of the antiviral IFI16 DNA sensor. We demonstrate that the viral immediate early ICP0 protein plays a dominant role in the loss of IFI16 in normal, but not tumor-derived, human cell lines. In contrast, viral vhs-mediated loss of IFI16 by mRNA destabilization is revealed to be dominant in tumor-derived cells in which ICP0 is nonfunctional. Together, these results contribute to our understanding of how HSV-1 modulates IFI16 protein levels and highlight cell-type-dependent differences between normal and tumor-derived cells.T he innate immune response plays a critical role in limiting viral replication and dissemination. Initially, the host responds to the presence of an invading virus through the secretion of interferons and proinflammatory cytokines. These effector molecules act in an autocrine or paracrine manner to induce antiviral genes that block virus replication, and they promote viral clearance through the recruitment of specialized immune cells. Production of these effector molecules is mediated by cellular signaling pathways, which are initiated by the recogn...