Herpes simplex virus type 1 reshapes host chromatin architecture via transcription machinery hijacking

Esther González-Almela, Alvaro Castells-Garcia, François Dily, Manuel Fernández Merino, Davide Carnevali, Pol Cusco, Luciano Croce and Maria Pia Cosma ()
Additional contact information
Esther González-Almela: Southern Medical University
Alvaro Castells-Garcia: Southern Medical University
François Dily: Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG). The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology
Manuel Fernández Merino: Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG). The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology
Davide Carnevali: Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG). The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology
Pol Cusco: Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG). The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology
Luciano Croce: Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG). The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology
Maria Pia Cosma: Southern Medical University

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-26

Abstract: Abstract Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) remodels the host chromatin structure and induces a host-to-virus transcriptional switch during lytic infection. We combine super-resolution imaging and chromosome-capture technologies to identify the mechanism of remodeling. We show that the host chromatin undergoes massive condensation caused by the hijacking of RNA polymerase II (RNAP II) and topoisomerase I (TOP1). In addition, HSV-1 infection results in the rearrangement of topologically associating domains and loops, although the A/B compartments are maintained in the host. The position of viral genomes and their association with RNAP II and cohesin is determined nanometrically. We reveal specific host–HSV-1 genome interactions and enrichment of upregulated human genes in the most contacting regions. Finally, TOP1 inhibition fully blocks HSV-1 infection, suggesting possible antiviral strategies. This viral mechanism of host chromatin rewiring sheds light on the role of transcription in chromatin architecture.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-60534-6 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-60534-6

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-60534-6

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().