Hehner Julia, Ludenia Lisa, Bierau Laura, Schöbel Anja, Schauflinger Martin, Grande Yvonne F, Schwudke Dominik, Herker Eva
Institute of Virology, Philipps University Marburg, Marburg, Germany.
Division of Bioanalytical Chemistry, Research Center Borstel - Leibniz Lung Center, Borstel, Germany; German Center for Infection Research, Thematic Translational Unit Tuberculosis, Partner Site Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems, Borstel, Germany; German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Airway Research Center North (ARCN), Research Center Borstel, Leibniz Lung Center, Borstel, Germany.
J Biol Chem. 2025 Mar;301(3):108222. doi: 10.1016/j.jbc.2025.108222. Epub 2025 Jan 23.
Orthoflaviviruses are emerging arthropod-borne pathogens whose replication cycle is tightly linked to host lipid metabolism. Previous lipidomic studies demonstrated that infection with the closely related hepatitis C virus (HCV) changes the fatty acid (FA) profile of several lipid classes. Lipids in HCV-infected cells had more very long-chain and desaturated FAs and viral replication relied on functional FA elongation and desaturation. Here, we systematically analyzed the role of FA elongases and desaturases in infection models of the most prevalent pathogenic orthoflaviviruses, dengue (DENV), Zika (ZIKV), West Nile (WNV), yellow fever (YFV), and tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV). Knockdown of desaturases and elongases in Huh7 cells only marginally affected ZIKV, WNV, YFV, and TBEV replication, while DENV titers were strongly reduced. This was most prominent for enzymes involved in very long-chain fatty acid synthesis. In detail, knockdown of the FA elongase ELOVL4, which catalyzes ultra-long-chain FA synthesis, significantly reduced DENV titers, decreased the formation of replication intermediates, and lowered viral protein levels in DENV-infected hepatoma cells, suggesting a function of ELOVL4 in DENV RNA replication. In contrast, the activity of FA desaturase FADS2, rate-limiting in poly-unsaturated FA biosynthesis, is not involved in viral RNA replication or translation, but is essentially required for the formation of infectious DENV particles. Further, in immunocompetent immortalized microglial cells, FADS2 deletion additionally limits viral replication through increased expression of interferon-stimulated genes in response to DENV infection. Taken together, enzymes involved in very long-chain FA synthesis are critical for different steps of DENV replication.
正黄病毒是新出现的节肢动物传播病原体,其复制周期与宿主脂质代谢紧密相关。先前的脂质组学研究表明,感染密切相关的丙型肝炎病毒(HCV)会改变几种脂质类别的脂肪酸(FA)谱。HCV感染细胞中的脂质含有更多的极长链和去饱和脂肪酸,并且病毒复制依赖于功能性脂肪酸延长和去饱和。在这里,我们系统地分析了脂肪酸延长酶和去饱和酶在最常见的致病性正黄病毒感染模型中的作用,这些病毒包括登革热病毒(DENV)、寨卡病毒(ZIKV)、西尼罗河病毒(WNV)、黄热病毒(YFV)和蜱传脑炎病毒(TBEV)。在Huh7细胞中敲低去饱和酶和延长酶仅对寨卡病毒、西尼罗河病毒、黄热病毒和蜱传脑炎病毒的复制产生轻微影响,而登革热病毒滴度则大幅降低。这在参与极长链脂肪酸合成的酶中最为显著。具体而言,催化超长链脂肪酸合成的脂肪酸延长酶ELOVL4的敲低显著降低了登革热病毒滴度,减少了复制中间体的形成,并降低了登革热病毒感染的肝癌细胞中的病毒蛋白水平,表明ELOVL4在登革热病毒RNA复制中发挥作用。相比之下,多不饱和脂肪酸生物合成中的限速脂肪酸去饱和酶FADS2的活性不参与病毒RNA复制或翻译,但对于传染性登革热病毒颗粒的形成至关重要。此外,在具有免疫活性的永生化小胶质细胞中,FADS2的缺失还通过增加干扰素刺激基因在登革热病毒感染后的表达来限制病毒复制。综上所述,参与极长链脂肪酸合成的酶对登革热病毒复制的不同步骤至关重要。