The Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Protein ICP4 Acts as both an Activator and a Repressor of Host Genome Transcription during Infection

Infection by herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) impacts nearly all steps of host cell gene expression. The regulatory mechanisms by which this occurs, and the interplay between host and viral factors, have yet to be fully elucidated. We investigated how the occupancy of RNA polymerase II (Pol II) on the host genome changes during HSV-1 infection and is impacted by the viral immediate early protein ICP4. Pol II ChIP-seq experiments revealed ICP4-dependent decreases and increases in Pol II levels across the bodies of hundreds of genes. Our data suggest ICP4 represses host transcription by inhibiting recruitment of Pol II and activates host genes by promoting release of Pol II from promoter proximal pausing into productive elongation. Consistent with this, ICP4 was required for the decrease in levels of the pausing factor NELF-A on several HSV-1-activated genes after infection. In the absence of infection, exogenous expression of ICP4 activated, but did not repress, transcription of some genes in a chromatin-dependent context. Our data support the model that ICP4 decreases promoter proximal pausing on host genes activated by infection and that ICP4 is necessary, but not sufficient, to repress transcription of host genes during viral infection.

Automated summary

The study revealed that HSV-1 infection affects host cell gene expression by regulating the activity of RNA polymerase II (Pol II) through the viral protein ICP4. ICP4 can modulate the recruitment and release of Pol II, leading to repression or activation of host gene transcription.