Project description:Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) are transposable elements that cause host genome instability and usually play deleterious roles such as tumorigenesis. Recent advances also suggest that this 'enemy within' may encode viral mimic to induce antiviral immune responses through viral sensors. Here, through whole genome RNA-seq we discovered a full-length ERV-derived long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), designated lnc-EPAV (ERV-derived lncRNA positively regulates antiviral responses), as a positive regulator of NF-κB signaling. Lnc-EPAV expression was rapidly up-regulated by viral RNA mimic or RNA viruses to facilitate the expression of RELA, an NF-κB subunit that plays a critical role in antiviral responses. In turn, RELA promoted the transcription of lnc-EPAV to form a positive feedback loop. Transcriptome analysis of lnc-EPAV-silenced macrophages, combined with gain- and loss-of-function experiments, showed that lnc-EPAV was critical for induction of type I interferon (IFN) and inflammatory cytokine expression by RNA viruses. Consistently, lnc-EPAV-deficient mice exhibited reduced expression of type I IFNs, and consequently increased viral loads and mortality following lethal RNA virus infection. Mechanistically, lnc-EPAV promoted expression of RELA by competitively binding to and displacing SFPQ, a transcriptional repressor of RELA. The binding between ERV-derived RNAs and SFPQ also existed in human cells. Altogether, our work demonstrates an alternative mechanism by which ERVs regulate antiviral immune responses.
Project description:Tumor interferon signaling regulates the expression of immunosuppressive molecules and promotes cancer immune evasion. Although the role of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in the regulation of gene expression is now emerging, their function in tumor interferon signaling remains unexplored. We have identified the interferon-γ (IFNγ)-stimulated non-coding RNA 1 (INCA1) as a novel lncRNA expressed form the PD-L1 locus. INCA1 is expressed in multiple tumor types and its levels increase after IFNγ stimulation. In this study we performed transcriptome analysis (RNA-seq) of INCA1 knockdown cells and show that INCA1 regulates the expression of several interferon-stimulated genes. Overall, our findings reveal INCA1 as a critical component of the tumor interferon signaling.
Project description:Encoded model contains complete kinetics of infection for coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3), a compact and fast-acting RNA virus. The model consists of separable, detailed modules describing viral binding-delivery, translation-replication, and encapsidation. Specific module activities are dampened by the type I interferon response to viral double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs), which is itself disrupted by viral proteinases