RNA binding protein CPEB1 remodels host and viral RNA landscapes

Host and virus interactions at the post-transcriptional level are critical for infection but remain poorly understood. Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a prevalent herpesvirus family member that causes severe complications in immunocompromised patients and newborns. Here, we perform comprehensive transcriptome-wide analyses revealing that HCMV infection results in widespread alternative splicing (AS), shorter 3′-untranslated regions (3′UTRs) and polyA tail lengthening in host genes. The host RNA binding protein cytoplasmic polyadenylation element binding protein 1 (CPEB1) is highly induced upon infection and ectopic expression of CPEB1 in non-infected cells recapitulates infection-related post-transcriptional changes. CPEB1 is also required for polyA-tail lengthening of viral RNAs important for productive infection. Strikingly, depletion of CPEB1 reverses infection-related cytopathology and post-transcriptional changes, and decreases productive HCMV titers. Host RNA processing is also altered in herpes simplex virus-2 (HSV-2) infected cells, indicating a common theme among herpesvirus infections. Our work is a starting point for therapeutic targeting of host RNA binding proteins in herpesvirus infections.