CCR4‐NOT differentially controls host versus virus poly(a)‐tail length and regulates HCMV infection

Burgess, Hannah M; Grande, Rebecca; Riccio, Sofia; Dinesh, Ikshitaa; Winkler, Gerlof Sebastiaan; Depledge, Daniel P; Mohr, Ian

Abstract

Unlike most RNA and DNA viruses that broadly stimulate mRNA decay and interfere with host gene expression, human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) extensively remodels the host translatome without producing an mRNA decay enzyme. By performing a targeted loss-of-function screen in primary human fibroblasts, we here identify the host CCR4-NOT deadenylase complex members CNOT1 and CNOT3 as unexpected pro-viral host factors that selectively regulate HCMV reproduction. We find that the scaffold subunit CNOT1 is specifically required for late viral gene expression and genome-wide host responses in CCR4-NOT-disrupted cells. By profiling poly(A)-tail lengths of individual HCMV and host mRNAs using nanopore direct RNA sequencing, we reveal poly(A)-tails of viral messages to be markedly longer than those of cellular mRNAs and significantly less sensitive to CCR4-NOT disruption. Our data establish that mRNA deadenylation by host CCR4-NOT is critical for productive HCMV replication and define a new mechanism whereby herpesvirus infection subverts cellular mRNA metabolism to remodel the gene expression landscape of the infected cell. Moreover, we expose an unanticipated host factor with potential to become a therapeutic anti-HCMV target.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 28, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Oct 17, 2023
• Publication Date: Dec 6, 2023
• Deposit Date: Oct 23, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 26, 2023
• Journal: EMBO Reports
• Print ISSN: 1469-221X
• Electronic ISSN: 1469-3178
• Publisher: EMBO Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 24
• Issue: 12
• Article Number: e56327
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.15252/embr.202256327
• Keywords: CCR4-NOT; deadenylation; HCMV; RNA decay; virus:host interaction
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/26262670
• Publisher URL: https://www.embopress.org/doi/full/10.15252/embr.202256327