@article{DjakovicHennigReinischetal.2023,
  author    = {Djakovic, Lara and Hennig, Thomas and Reinisch, Katharina and Milić, Andrea and Whisnant, Adam W. and Wolf, Katharina and Weiß, Elena and Haas, Tobias and Grothey, Arnhild and J{\"u}rges, Christopher S. and Kluge, Michael and Wolf, Elmar and Erhard, Florian and Friedel, Caroline C. and D{\"o}lken, Lars},
  title     = {The HSV-1 ICP22 protein selectively impairs histone repositioning upon Pol II transcription downstream of genes},
  series = {Nature Communications},
  volume    = {14},
  journal   = {Nature Communications},
  doi       = {10.1038/s41467-023-40217-w},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-358161},
  year      = {2023},
  abstract  = {Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) infection and stress responses disrupt transcription termination by RNA Polymerase II (Pol II). In HSV-1 infection, but not upon salt or heat stress, this is accompanied by a dramatic increase in chromatin accessibility downstream of genes. Here, we show that the HSV-1 immediate-early protein ICP22 is both necessary and sufficient to induce downstream open chromatin regions (dOCRs) when transcription termination is disrupted by the viral ICP27 protein. This is accompanied by a marked ICP22-dependent loss of histones downstream of affected genes consistent with impaired histone repositioning in the wake of Pol II. Efficient knock-down of the ICP22-interacting histone chaperone FACT is not sufficient to induce dOCRs in ΔICP22 infection but increases dOCR induction in wild-type HSV-1 infection. Interestingly, this is accompanied by a marked increase in chromatin accessibility within gene bodies. We propose a model in which allosteric changes in Pol II composition downstream of genes and ICP22-mediated interference with FACT activity explain the differential impairment of histone repositioning downstream of genes in the wake of Pol II in HSV-1 infection.},
  language  = {en}
}
@unpublished{HennigPrustyKauferetal.2021,
  author    = {Hennig, Thomas and Prusty, Archana B. and Kaufer, Benedikt and Whisnant, Adam W. and Lodha, Manivel and Enders, Antje and Thomas, Julius and Kasimir, Francesca and Grothey, Arnhild and Herb, Stefanie and J{\"u}rges, Christopher and Meister, Gunter and Erhard, Florian and D{\"o}lken, Lars and Prusty, Bhupesh K.},
  title     = {Selective inhibition of microRNA processing by a herpesvirus-encoded microRNA triggers virus reactivation from latency},
  edition   = {submitted version},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-267858},
  year      = {2021},
  abstract  = {Herpesviruses have mastered host cell modulation and immune evasion to augment productive infection, life-long latency and reactivation thereof 1,2. A long appreciated, yet elusively defined relationship exists between the lytic-latent switch and viral non-coding RNAs 3,4. Here, we identify miRNA-mediated inhibition of miRNA processing as a novel cellular mechanism that human herpesvirus 6A (HHV-6A) exploits to disrupt mitochondrial architecture, evade intrinsic host defense and drive the latent-lytic switch. We demonstrate that virus-encoded miR-aU14 selectively inhibits the processing of multiple miR-30 family members by direct interaction with the respective pri-miRNA hairpin loops. Subsequent loss of miR-30 and activation of miR-30/p53/Drp1 axis triggers a profound disruption of mitochondrial architecture, which impairs induction of type I interferons and is necessary for both productive infection and virus reactivation. Ectopic expression of miR-aU14 was sufficient to trigger virus reactivation from latency thereby identifying it as a readily drugable master regulator of the herpesvirus latent-lytic switch. Our results show that miRNA-mediated inhibition of miRNA processing represents a generalized cellular mechanism that can be exploited to selectively target individual members of miRNA families. We anticipate that targeting miR-aU14 provides exciting therapeutic options for preventing herpesvirus reactivations in HHV-6-associated disorders like myalgic encephalitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and Long-COVID.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{HennigMichalskiRutkowskietal.2018,
  author    = {Hennig, Thomas and Michalski, Marco and Rutkowski, Andrzej J. and Djakovic, Lara and Whisnant, Adam W. and Friedl, Marie-Sophie and Jha, Bhaskar Anand and Baptista, Marisa A. P. and L'Hernault, Anne and Erhard, Florian and D{\"o}lken, Lars and Friedel, Caroline C.},
  title     = {HSV-1-induced disruption of transcription termination resembles a cellular stress response but selectively increases chromatin accessibility downstream of genes},
  series = {PLoS Pathogens},
  volume    = {14},
  journal   = {PLoS Pathogens},
  number    = {3},
  doi       = {10.1371/journal.ppat.1006954},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-176350},
  pages     = {e1006954},
  year      = {2018},
  abstract  = {Lytic herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) infection triggers disruption of transcription termination (DoTT) of most cellular genes, resulting in extensive intergenic transcription. Similarly, cellular stress responses lead to gene-specific transcription downstream of genes (DoG). In this study, we performed a detailed comparison of DoTT/DoG transcription between HSV-1 infection, salt and heat stress in primary human fibroblasts using 4sU-seq and ATAC-seq. Although DoTT at late times of HSV-1 infection was substantially more prominent than DoG transcription in salt and heat stress, poly(A) read-through due to DoTT/DoG transcription and affected genes were significantly correlated between all three conditions, in particular at earlier times of infection. We speculate that HSV-1 either directly usurps a cellular stress response or disrupts the transcription termination machinery in other ways but with similar consequences. In contrast to previous reports, we found that inhibition of Ca\(^{2+}\) signaling by BAPTA-AM did not specifically inhibit DoG transcription but globally impaired transcription. Most importantly, HSV-1-induced DoTT, but not stress-induced DoG transcription, was accompanied by a strong increase in open chromatin downstream of the affected poly(A) sites. In its extent and kinetics, downstream open chromatin essentially matched the poly(A) read-through transcription. We show that this does not cause but rather requires DoTT as well as high levels of transcription into the genomic regions downstream of genes. This raises intriguing new questions regarding the role of histone repositioning in the wake of RNA Polymerase II passage downstream of impaired poly(A) site recognition.},
  language  = {en}
}