Yin, C.* ; Fedorov, A.* ; Guo, H.* ; Crawford, J.C.* ; Rousseau, C.* ; Zhong, X.* ; Williams, R.M.* ; Gautam, A.K.* ; Koehler, H.S.* ; Whisnant, A.W.* ; Hennig, T.* ; Rozina, A.* ; Zhong, Y.* ; Lv, S.* ; Bergant, V.* ; Wang, S.* ; Dröge, P.* ; Miller, S.* ; Poptsova, M.* ; Rehwinkel, J.* ; Pichlmair, A. ; Mocarski, E.S.* ; Thomas, P.G.* ; Dölken, L.* ; Zhang, T.* ; Herbert, A.* ; Balachandran, S.*
Host cell Z-RNAs activate ZBP1 during virus infections.
Nature, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09705-5 (2025)
Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) and Influenza A viruses (IAV) induce Z-form nucleic acid Binding Protein 1 (ZBP1)-initiated cell death1-8. ZBP1 is activated by Z-RNA1,7,9, and the Z-RNAs which trigger ZBP1 during HSV-1 and IAV infections were assumed to be of viral origin1. However, we show here that host cell-encoded Z-RNAs are major and sufficient ZBP1 activating ligands following infection by these two human pathogens. The majority of cellular Z-RNAs mapped to intergenic endogenous retroelements (EREs) embedded within abnormally long 3' extensions of host cell mRNAs. These aberrant host cell transcripts arose as a consequence of Disruption of Transcription Termination (DoTT), a virus-driven phenomenon which disables Cleavage and Polyadenylation Specificity Factor (CPSF)-mediated 3' processing of nascent pre-mRNAs10-15. Mutant viruses lacking ICP27 or NS1, the virus-encoded proteins responsible for inhibiting CPSF and triggering DoTT13,15, failed to induce host cell Z-RNA accrual and were attenuated in their ability to stimulate ZBP1. Ectopic expression of HSV-1 ICP27 or IAV NS1, or pharmacological blockade of CPSF activity, induced accumulation of host cell Z-RNAs and activated ZBP1. These results demonstrate that DoTT-generated cellular Z-RNAs are bona fide ZBP1 ligands, and position ZBP1-activated cell death as a host response to counter viral disruption of the cellular transcriptional machinery.
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Publikationstyp
Artikel: Journalartikel
Dokumenttyp
Wissenschaftlicher Artikel
Typ der Hochschulschrift
Herausgeber
Schlagwörter
Z-alpha Domain; Z-dna; Protein; Type-1; Necroptosis; Binding; Gene; Transcription; Expression; Sequence
Keywords plus
Sprache
englisch
Veröffentlichungsjahr
2025
Prepublished im Jahr
0
HGF-Berichtsjahr
2025
ISSN (print) / ISBN
0028-0836
e-ISSN
1476-4687
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Verlag
Nature Publishing Group
Verlagsort
London
Tag d. mündl. Prüfung
0000-00-00
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Prüfer
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0000-00-00
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0000-00-00
Anmelder/Inhaber
weitere Inhaber
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Begutachtungsstatus
Peer reviewed
POF Topic(s)
30203 - Molecular Targets and Therapies
Forschungsfeld(er)
Immune Response and Infection
PSP-Element(e)
G-502700-003
Förderungen
NIH Cancer Center Support Grant
UKRI Medical Research Council
The 1.3.5 project for disciplines of excellence from West China Hospital of Sichuan University
National Science and Technology Major Project of China
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Association of Lebanese and Syrian American Charities at St Jude Children's Hospital
St Jude Center of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance (SJCEIRS) NIAID
Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
European Research Council
Bohringer Ingelheim Funds
Radcliffe Department of Medicine and Keble and St Cross Oxford Colleges
Clarendon Fund
Basic Research Program of the National Research University Higher School of Economics
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation)
German Research Foundation (DFG)
Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF)
State of Bavaria
German Research Foundation
NIH grants
Copyright
Erfassungsdatum
2025-10-15