{
  "abstract": "Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) establishes lifelong latency by maintaining its genome as circular episomes tethered to host chromatin and faithfully segregated during mitosis. This process is primarily mediated by the latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA), which interacts with host chromosome-associated factors to ensure viral genome persistence. Several kinetochore proteins, including CENP-F, Bub1, BubR1, Aurora B, Survivin, and NuMA, have been implicated in this process, yet the broader contribution of kinetochore components remains poorly defined. We performed a systematic shRNA-based screen of the 37 host genes encoding kinetochore-associated proteins to evaluate their role in KSHV episome maintenance. We validated involvement of previously reported factors and identified Centromere Protein B (CENP-B) and Light Intermediate Chain 2 of the dynein complex (LIC2) as novel kinetochore-associated proteins critical for KSHV episome persistence. Loss of these proteins significantly reduced episome stability, highlighting previously unrecognized host-virus interactions at the chromosome segregation machinery. These findings identify critical host factors that expand the repertoire of kinetochore proteins co-opted by KSHV for episome maintenance and provide new mechanistic insights into how viral episomes exploit host chromosome segregation pathways for long-term persistence. Our work underscores kinetochore proteins as a broader class of host dependency factors in gamma-herpesvirus biology and suggests potential therapeutic targets for KSHV-associated malignancies.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "University of Pennsylvania"
  ],
  "article_type": "New results",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 7,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "R. K. Singh"
    },
    {
      "name": "S. Zhang"
    },
    {
      "name": "D. Bose"
    },
    {
      "name": "N. Ma"
    },
    {
      "name": "R. Vangala"
    },
    {
      "name": "K. Chunduru"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "E. S. Robertson"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/agjnp4b5bfbhv.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.64898/2026.10.28.762626",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.28.762626v1.full",
  "id": "agjnp4b5bfbhv",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.28.762626v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "biorxiv",
      "microbiology"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.28.762626v1.full.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-28",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/agjnp4b5bfbhv.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:30:31Z",
      "native_id": "10.64898/2026.10.28.762626",
      "source": "biorxiv",
      "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.28.762626v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "biorxiv:microbiology",
      "subfield": "microbiology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Kinetochore Proteins CENPB and LIC2 are critical for Episome Persistence and Replication of Kaposis's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus",
  "title_text": "Kinetochore Proteins CENPB and LIC2 are critical for Episome Persistence and Replication of Kaposis's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-31T00:20:54Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/agjnp4b5bfbhv",
  "venue": "bioRxiv",
  "versions": []
}