Open AccessEngagement of cellular cholesterol in the life cycle of classical swine fever virus: its potential as an antiviral target
Author(s) -
Shaoxiong Yu,
Caixia Yin,
Kun Song,
Li Su,
Guang-Lai Zheng,
Lian-Feng Li,
Jinghan Wang,
Yongfeng Li,
Yuzi Luo,
Yuan Sun,
HuaJi Qiu
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of general virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.55
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1465-2099
pISSN - 0022-1317
DOI - 10.1099/jgv.0.001178
Subject(s) - biology , virus , cholesterol , virology , viral life cycle , pestivirus , flaviviridae , classical swine fever , internalization , immunology , viral replication , biochemistry , hepatitis c virus , cell
Classical swine fever virus (CSFV), the etiological agent of classical swine fever in pigs, is a member of the Pestivirus genus within the Flaviviridae family. It has been proposed that CSFV infection is significantly inhibited by methyl-β-cyclodextrin (MβCD) treatment. However, the exact engagement of cellular cholesterol in the life cycle of CSFV remains unclear. Here, we demonstrated that pretreatment of PK-15 cells with MβCD significantly decreased the cellular cholesterol level and resulted in the inhibition of CSFV infection, while replenishment of exogenous cholesterol in MβCD-treated cells recovered the cellular cholesterol level and restored the viral infection. Moreover, we found that depletion of cholesterol acted on the early stage of CSFV infection and blocked its internalization into the host cells. Furthermore, we showed that 25-hydroxycholesterol, a regulator of cellular cholesterol biosynthesis, exhibited a potent anti-CSFV activity by reducing cellular cholesterol level. Taken together, our findings highlight the engagement of cholesterol in the life cycle of CSFV and its potential use as an antiviral target.