Publications by authors named "Kristen Conn"

Article Synopsis
  • * The study employs high-resolution imaging to reveal that the presence and positioning of histones at individual HSV-1 genomes show significant variability, impacting transcription regulation during the early stages of infection.
  • * The host protein Daxx, along with PML factors, plays a crucial role in modifying histones to control viral genome decompaction, which is manipulated by the virus’s own proteins, highlighting a complex interplay between viral strategies and host responses during infection.
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Host innate immune defences play a critical role in restricting the intracellular propagation and pathogenesis of invading viral pathogens. Here we show that the histone H3.3 chaperone HIRA (histone cell cycle regulator) associates with promyelocytic leukaemia nuclear bodies (PML-NBs) to stimulate the induction of innate immune defences against herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) infection.

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Detection of viral nucleic acids plays a critical role in the induction of intracellular host immune defences. However, the temporal recruitment of immune regulators to infecting viral genomes remains poorly defined due to the technical difficulties associated with low genome copy-number detection. Here we utilize 5-Ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU) labelling of herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) DNA in combination with click chemistry to examine the sequential recruitment of host immune regulators to infecting viral genomes under low multiplicity of infection conditions.

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Article Synopsis
  • ICP4 is the key transcription activator for herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1), but its exact role in regulating gene expression is still not fully understood.
  • The study reveals that HSV-1 can interact with and alter nucleosomes (the building blocks of chromatin), and that ICP4 specifically enhances the dynamics of certain histones, especially H3.1, to counteract the virus's silencing mechanisms.
  • Findings suggest that by preventing stable silencing of HSV-1 genomes, ICP4 plays a crucial role in activating transcription during viral infection.
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Unlabelled: Aspects of intrinsic antiviral immunity are mediated by promyelocytic leukemia nuclear body (PML-NB) constituent proteins. During herpesvirus infection, these antiviral proteins are independently recruited to nuclear domains that contain infecting viral genomes to cooperatively promote viral genome silencing. Central to the execution of this particular antiviral response is the small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) signaling pathway.

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Unlabelled: Small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) is used by the intrinsic antiviral immune response to restrict viral pathogens, such as herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1). Despite characterization of the host factors that rely on SUMOylation to exert their antiviral effects, the enzymes that mediate these SUMOylation events remain to be defined. We show that unconjugated SUMO levels are largely maintained throughout infection regardless of the presence of ICP0, the HSV-1 SUMO-targeted ubiquitin ligase.

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Unlabelled: Host chromatin assembly can function as a barrier to viral infection. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) establishes latent infection as chromatin-assembled episomes in which all but a few viral genes are transcriptionally silent. The factors that control chromatin assembly and guide transcription regulation during the establishment of latency are not well understood.

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During lytic infections, HSV-1 genomes are assembled into unstable nucleosomes. The histones required for HSV-1 chromatin assembly, however, are in the cellular chromatin. We have shown that linker (H1) and core (H2B and H4) histones are mobilized during HSV-1 infection, and proposed that the mobilized histones are available for assembly into viral chromatin.

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Latent HSV-1 genomes are chromatinized with silencing marks. Since 2004, however, there has been an apparent inconsistency in the studies of the chromatinization of the HSV-1 genomes in lytically infected cells. Nuclease protection and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays suggested that the genomes were not regularly chromatinized, having only low histone occupancy.

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The infecting genomes of herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) are assembled into unstable nucleosomes soon after nuclear entry. The source of the histones that bind to these genomes has yet to be addressed. However, infection inhibits histone synthesis.

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Histones interact with herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) genomes and localize to replication compartments early during infections. However, HSV-1 genomes do not interact with histones in virions and are deposited in nuclear domains devoid of histones. Moreover, late viral replication compartments are also devoid of histones.

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