title: Do viruses subvert cholesterol homeostasis to induce host cubic membranes?
abstract: Biological membranes with cubic morphology are a hallmark of stressed or diseased cellular conditions; both protein-protein interactions and lipid alterations appear to contribute to their biogenesis, yet their specific cellular functions are unknown. The occurrence of cubic membranes strikingly correlates with viral infections; notably, virus entry, proliferation, and release are processes closely linked to cellular cholesterol metabolism, and dys-regulation of cholesterol synthesis at the level of HMG-CoA reductase also induces cubic membrane formation, in the absence of viral infection. We propose that virus-induced cubic membranes could result from viral interference of cellular cholesterol homeostasis, generating a protective membrane environment to facilitate virus assembly and proliferation. Preventing cubic membrane formation might thus disrupt the 'virus factory' and offer new avenues to combat viral infections.
authors.affiliation: Cubic Membrane Research Laboratory, Department of Physiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore. phsdy@nus.edu.sg
authors.forename: Yuru
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Zakaria A
authors.initials: ZA
authors.lastname: Almsherqi
authors.forename: Mary M L
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: Sepp D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Kohlwein
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007425:Intracellular Membranes / Q000473:pathology*; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology*; D014780:Viruses / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D002784:Cholesterol