{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"institution":[{"name":"bioRxiv"}],"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,16]],"date-time":"2026-01-16T01:48:23Z","timestamp":1768528103276,"version":"3.49.0"},"posted":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,1]]},"group-title":"Cell Biology","reference-count":57,"publisher":"openRxiv","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,1]],"date-time":"2025-12-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1764547200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/publicdomain\/zero\/1.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"NIH","award":["GM150649"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["GM150649"]}]},{"name":"NIH","award":["S10OD026880"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["S10OD026880"]}]},{"name":"NIH","award":["S10OD030463"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["S10OD030463"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>\n                  Viral non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) often perform multiple functions during persistent infection, but how they interface with host RNA-binding proteins remains incompletely understood. Herpesvirus saimiri (HVS), a T-tropic \u03b3-herpesvirus that induces aggressive lymphomas in primates, during its latency expresses abundant small nuclear RNAs HSUR1 and HSUR2. HSUR1 is known to trigger target-directed microRNA decay (TDMD) of host miR-27a, and HSUR2 can function as a miRNA-dependent adaptor; here we show that both HSURs also bind host Pumilio proteins (PUM1 and PUM2) via perfectly conserved Pumilio response elements (PREs). PUM proteins are potent post-transcriptional regulators that bind PREs usually located in 3\u2032 UTRs of mRNAs to repress protein production. In Jurkat T cells, wild-type HSUR1\/2, but not PRE-mutant variants, shift cells from a na\u00efve-like toward an effector\/memory-like state. This PRE-dependent shift is evidenced by increased surface expression of CXCR3, a chemokine receptor of activated effector T cells, and CD57, a marker of terminally differentiated T and NK cells. Our data support a model in which HSURs sequester a fraction of PUM proteins. Consistently, depletion of PUM1 or PUM2 phenocopies HSUR-induced changes, with more abundant PUM1 exerting the dominant effect. Consistently, depletion of PUM1 or PUM2 phenocopies HSUR-induced changes, with more abundant PUM1 exerting the dominant effect. In BJAB B cells, HSUR1 still drives PRE-dependent gene regulation, but the affected genes only partially overlap with those in Jurkat cells, and some transcripts even show reversed direction of change, revealing strong cell-type specificity. By identifying PUM1\/2 as key host partners of HSUR ncRNAs, this work uncovers an underappreciated role for PUM proteins in shaping T- and B-cell states and reveals an additional way in which\n                  <jats:italic>\u03b3<\/jats:italic>\n                  -herpesviral ncRNAs reprogram lymphocytes to promote viral persistence.\n                <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1101\/2025.11.27.691032","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,1]],"date-time":"2025-12-01T11:55:21Z","timestamp":1764590121000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Viral non-coding RNAs hijack host Pumilio proteins to regulate host transcripts"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"given":"Nhi","family":"Phan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7033-9419","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Paulina","family":"Pawlica","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"54368","reference":[{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev-virology-092818-015811"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/rmv.1816"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fmicb.2021.657387"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.semcdb.2022.12.008"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/v17071006"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0065-230X(05)93003-0"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.89.7.3116"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0092-8674(88)80004-7"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/nar\/20.7.1810"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/nar\/17.3.1258"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1187197"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/nar\/gkac443"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/nature24034"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cell.2018.03.006"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1187058"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1261\/rna.054817.115"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.ppat.1002510"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1114204109"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.molcel.2014.03.025"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tig.2018.09.006"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1074\/jbc.M112.373522"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/cells9040984"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1916471117"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.stem.2013.12.008"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cub.2012.01.039"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1099\/jgv.0.002152"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.celrep.2019.01.111"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1128\/JVI.64.8.3905-3915.1990"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1128\/JVI.63.8.3307-3314.1989"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/nar\/gkq1107"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-018-33596-4"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1101\/gad.298752.117"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/nar\/gkx1120"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.34","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.str.2008.01.006"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41586-021-03633-w"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.36","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cell.2015.12.017"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.37","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1101\/060012"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cels.2015.12.004"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.691032v1.39","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/icb.2010.158"},{"key":"2025120205302318000_2025.11.27.69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