Faculty Collaboration Database

STAT1 and herpesviruses: Making lemonade from lemons. Virology 2025 Feb;603:110364

Date

02/03/2025

Pubmed ID

39894604

Pubmed Central ID

PMC11788573

DOI

10.1016/j.virol.2024.110364

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85213082424 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   1 Citation

Abstract

Signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) is engaged downstream of interferon and other cytokine receptors and has traditionally been defined as an antiviral effector of the host. Consistent with the antiviral role, genetic deficiency of STAT1 leads to increased replication of diverse viruses and severe disease that can lead to host's mortality, including in rare human cases of STAT1 insufficiency. Surprisingly, excessive STAT1 activation recently identified in patients with heterozygous gain-of-function STAT1 mutations and subsequently modeled in laboratory mice, also leads to poor control of select virus infections, including herpesviruses. Thus, the function of STAT1 in viral infections might be more nuanced and extend beyond the canonical antiviral role of this host factor. This review will compare the findings in the animal models and human cases to discuss the role of STAT1 in herpesvirus infection of the intact host, including the emerging cell type-specific proviral roles of STAT1.

Author List

Johansen ER, Tarakanova VL

Author

Vera Tarakanova PhD Professor in the Microbiology and Immunology department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Animals
Disease Models, Animal
Herpesviridae
Herpesviridae Infections
Host-Pathogen Interactions
Humans
Mice
STAT1 Transcription Factor
Virus Replication