Although thousands of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are localized in the nucleus, only a few dozen have been functionally characterized. Here we show that nuclear enriched abundant transcript 1 (NEAT1), an essential lncRNA for the formation of nuclear body paraspeckles, is induced by influenza virus and herpes simplex virus infection as well as by Toll-like receptor3-p38 pathway-triggered poly I:C stimulation, resulting in excess formation of paraspeckles. We found that NEAT1 facilitates the expression of antiviral genes including cytokines such as interleukin-8 (IL8). We found that splicing factor proline/glutamine-rich (SFPQ), a NEAT1-binding paraspeckle protein, is a repressor of IL8 transcription, and that NEAT1 induction relocates SFPQ from the IL8 promoter to the paraspeckles, leading to transcriptional activation of IL8. Together, our data show that NEAT1 plays an important role in the innate immune response through the transcriptional regulation of antiviral genes by the stimulus-responsive cooperative action of NEAT1 and SFPQ.
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