Viruses Hijack Tiny Nuclear Hubs To Spread Infection
Researchers uncover how HSV-1 rewires nuclear speckles to fuel infection.
Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infection dramatically remodels the host cell’s nuclear structures. Infection leads to the formation of viral replication compartments and to chromatin marginalization to the nuclear periphery. In addition, a joint research by the Universities of Jyväskylä and Bar-Ilan revealed that viral infection also alters the structure of nuclear speckles, which are essential for messenger RNA processing.
Nuclear speckles are dynamic, membraneless nuclear bodies that primarily function as sites for the storage, assembly, and modification of factors involved in gene expression. Both cellular and viral messenger RNAs are processed in nuclear speckles. The disassembly of nuclear speckles severely limits the export of viral messenger RNAs from the nucleus, explains Research Director Maija Vihinen-Ranta from the University of Jyväskylä.
Altogether, the research indicates that nuclear speckles function as intermediate hubs for the modification of viral messenger RNAs, thereby highlighting their essential role in viral messenger RNA processing and nuclear export pathways. Without them, virus cannot function normally, and infection cannot progress.
A better understanding of how viruses interact with host cells and exploit their cellular machinery can help us develop new ways to treat and prevent viral diseases, says Vihinen-Ranta.
The study was published in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) journal and was conducted in cooperation Professor Shav-Tal's research group Bar-Ilan University (Israel).
Reference: Nadav-Eliyahu S, Bohrer C, Boocholez A, et al. Nuclear speckles are regulatory hubs for viral and host mRNA expression during HSV-1 infection. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2026;123(6):e2511555123. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2511555123
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