The C. burnetii T4SS effector protein AnkG hijacks the 7SK small nuclear riboprotein complex for reprogramming host cell transcription

In this study, we analyzed the molecular activity of the anti-apoptotic T4SS effector protein AnkG (CBU0781) to understand how C. burnetii manipulates host cell viability. We demonstrate by RNA-immunoprecipitation that AnkG binds to the host cell 7SK snRNA, an important regulator of the positive transcription elongation factor P-TEFb. Consistent with the documented function of released P-TEFb in RNA Pol II pause release, RNA sequencing experiments confirmed AnkG-mediated transcriptional reprogramming and showed that expression of genes involved in apoptosis, trafficking, and transcription is influenced by AnkG. RNA-Seq of HEK293T cells transfected with either GFP-NLS-AnkG or GFP alone and RIP-Seq of HEK293T cells transfected GFP-NLS-AnkG