mBio (Jun 2021)

A BMPR2/YY1 Signaling Axis Is Required for Human Cytomegalovirus Latency in Undifferentiated Myeloid Cells

  • Emma Poole,
  • Maria Cristina Carlan da Silva,
  • Chris Huang,
  • Marianne Perera,
  • Sarah Jackson,
  • Ian J. Groves,
  • Mark Wills,
  • Amer Rana,
  • John Sinclair

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.00227-21
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 3

Abstract

Read online

Understanding the mechanisms which regulate HCMV latency could allow therapeutic targeting of the latent virus reservoir from where virus reactivation can cause severe disease. We show that the BMPR2/TGFbeta receptor/YY1 signaling axis is crucial to maintain HCMV latency in undifferentiated cells and that pharmacological reduction of BMPR2 in latently infected cells leads to reactivation of the viral lytic transcription program, which renders the infected cell open to immune detection and clearance in infected individuals.