Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 18, 2026

Quantitative Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH) and Immunofluorescence (IF) of Specific Gene Products in KSHV-Infected Cells
Published on: August 27, 2019
Nuclear body assembly by a viral repeat RNA promotes Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus gene expression
Mariel Kleer1, Rory P Mulloy1, Maxwell P Bui-Marinos1
1Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases Department, Calgary, AB, Canada; Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute, Calgary, AB, Canada; Robson DNA Science Centre, Calgary, AB, Canada; Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases, Calgary, AB, Canada; Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Abstract:
Kaposin is the most abundantly expressed viral RNA in tumors caused by the oncogenic virus Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV); however, its role in viral replication is not understood. Here, we show that kaposin, previously viewed as a protein-coding transcript, exists primarily as a nuclear viral long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) that rebuilds cellular nuclear speckles (NSs) adjacent to the viral genome to enhance viral gene expression. Kaposin is both necessary and sufficient to drive substantial NS remodeling, and this effect depends on repetitive elements within the RNA. Absence of kaposin-mediated NS remodeling, depletion of the essential NS protein, serine/arginine repetitive matrix 2 (SRRM2), or steric blocking of the kaposin repetitive elements impair viral gene expression. This work defines kaposin as a viral architectural RNA that drives nuclear speckle seeding beside the viral genome and reframes our understanding of lncRNA function and the spatial organization of transcription in the infected cell nucleus.
Related Concept Videos
Rous Sarcoma Virus (RSV) and Cancer
RSV is a retrovirus that contains two copies of a plus-strand RNA genome. Its genome consists of four main open...
Rous Sarcoma Virus (RSV) and Cancer
RSV is a retrovirus that contains two copies of a plus-strand RNA genome. Its genome consists of four main open...
Retrovirus Life Cycles
Mechanisms of Retrovirus-induced Cancers
Mechanisms of Retrovirus-induced Cancers
Retroviruses

