Low Density Lipoprotein Receptor-Related Protein 1 (LRP1) as an auxiliary host factor for RNA viruses including SARS-CoV-2

Abstract

Viruses with an RNA genome are often the cause of zoonotic infections. In order to identify novel pro-viral host cell factors, we screened a haploid insertion-mutagenized mouse embryonic cell library for clones that rendered them resistant to the zoonotic Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV; family Phleboviridae, order Bunyavirales). This screen returned the Low Density Lipoprotein Receptor-Related protein 1 (LRP1, or CD91) as top hit, a 600 kDa plasma membrane protein known to be involved in a wide variety of cell activities. Inactivation of LRP1 expression in human cells reduced RVFV RNA levels already at the attachment and entry stages of infection. Moreover, the role of LRP1 in promoting RVFV infection was dependent on physiological levels of cholesterol and on endocytosis. In the highly LRP1-positive human cell line HuH-7, LRP1 also promoted the early infection stages of Sandfly fever Sicilian virus (SFSV; family Phleboviridae, order Bunyavirales), La Crosse virus (LACV; family Peribunyaviridae, order Bunyavirales), had a minor effect on RNA levels during the late infection stages by vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV; family Rhabdoviridae, order Mononegavirales), whereas infection by Encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV, family Picornaviridae) was entirely LRP1-independent. Moreover, siRNA experoments in human Calu-3 cells demonstrated that also SARS-CoV-2 infection benefitted from LRP1. Thus, we identified LRP1 as a host factor that supports infection by a spectrum of RNA viruses.