The latent viral genomes of Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), known as episomes, are maintained as non-integrated circular genomes that are attached to host chromatin via tethers that comprise homodimers of latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA) that bind with their carboxyl termini to episomal terminal repeats and with their amino termini to host chromatin. However, the architecture of these tethers in cells was not well understood. Here, the authors used stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy to visualize single tethers in cells that were latently infected with KSHV and to reveal the nanoarchitecture of full-length KSHV tethers. They showed that the folding of the viral chromatin is intrinsic to the viral episome, is independent of the cellular environment and mimics that of active chromatin. Moreover, LANA dimers are arranged in ordered clusters that are projected outward from the terminal repeat region of the viral genome.
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Original Article
Grant, M. J. et al. Superresolution microscopy reveals structural mechanisms driving the nanoarchitecture of a viral chromatin tether. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1721638115 (2018)
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At the end of KSHV’s tether. Nat Rev Microbiol 16, 331 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-018-0017-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-018-0017-0