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Defining the Transcriptional Landscape during Cytomegalovirus Latency with Single-Cell RNA Sequencing

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Sinclair, JH 
Schnayder, Miri 
Nachshon, Aharon 
Krishna, Benjamin Anthony Cates  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0919-2961
Poole, emma 

Abstract

Primary infection with human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) results in a lifelong infection due to its ability to establish latent infection, with one characterized viral reservoir being hematopoietic cells. Although reactivation from latency causes serious disease in immunocompromised individuals, our molecular understanding of latency is limited. Here, we delineate viral gene expression during natural HCMV persistent infection by analyzing the massive RNA-seq atlas generated by the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) project. This systematic analysis reveals that HCMV persistence in-vivo is prevalent in diverse tissues. Unexpectedly, we find only viral transcripts that resemble gene expression during various stages of lytic infection with no evidence of any highly restricted latency-associated viral gene expression program. To further define the transcriptional landscape during HCMV latent infection, we also used single cell RNA-seq and a tractable experimental latency model. In contrast to some current views on latency, we also find no evidence for any highly restricted latency-associated viral gene expression program. Instead, we reveal that latency-associated gene expression largely mirrors a late lytic viral program albeit at much lower levels of expression. Overall, our work has the potential to revolutionize our understanding of HCMV persistence and suggests that latency is governed mainly by quantitative changes, with a limited number of qualitative changes, in viral gene expression.

Description

Keywords

cytomegalovirus, gene expression, latency, single-cell RNA-seq, transcriptome

Journal Title

mBio

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2161-2129
2150-7511

Volume Title

9

Publisher

American Society for Microbiology
Sponsorship
Medical Research Council (MR/K021087/1)
Medical Research Council (G0701279)
Medical Research Council (MR/S00081X/1)
Wellcome Trust (099790/Z/12/Z)
This research was supported by the EU-FP7-PEOPLE career integration grant, the Israeli Science Foundation (1073/14; N.S.-G.), Infect-ERA (TANKACY; N.S.-G.), the European Research Council starting grant (StG-2014-638142; N.S.-G.), the British Medical Research Programme (grant G0701279; J.S.), a Wellcome Research Studentship Grant (B.K.), and the Cambridge NIHR BRC Cell Phenotyping Hub. N.S.-G. is incumbent of the Skirball career development chair in new scientist.