Perturbation of de novo lipogenesis hinders MERS-CoV assembly and release, but not the biogenesis of viral replication organelles

Abstract

Coronaviruses hijack host cell metabolic pathways and resources to support their replication. They induce extensive host endomembrane remodeling to generate viral replication organelles and exploit host membranes for assembly and budding of their enveloped progeny virions. Because of the overall significance of host membranes, we sought to gain insight into the role of host factors involved in lipid metabolism in cells infected with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). We employed a single-cycle infection approach in combination with pharmacological inhibitors, biochemical assays, lipidomics, light and electron microscopy. Pharmacological inhibition of acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) and fatty acid synthase (FASN), key host factors in de novo fatty acid biosynthesis, led to pronounced inhibition of MERS-CoV particle release. Inhibition of ACC led to a profound metabolic switch in Huh7 cells, altering their lipidomic profile and inducing lipolysis. However, despite the extensive changes induced by the ACC inhibitor, the biogenesis of viral replication organelles remained unaffected. Instead, ACC inhibition appeared to affect the trafficking and post-translational modifications of the MERS-CoV envelope proteins. Electron microscopy revealed an accumulation of nucleocapsids in early budding stages, indicating that MERS-CoV assembly is adversely impacted by ACC inhibition. Notably, inhibition of palmitoylation resulted in similar effects, while supplementation of exogenous palmitic acid reversed the compounds inhibitory effects, possibly reflecting a crucial need for palmitoylation of the MERS-CoV Spike and Envelope proteins for their role in virus particle assembly. ImportanceMiddle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is the etiological agent of a zoonotic respiratory disease of limited transmissibility between humans. However, MERS-CoV is still considered a high-priority pathogen and is closely monitored by WHO due to its high lethality rate of around 35% of laboratory-confirmed infections. Like other positive-strand RNA viruses, MERS-CoV relies on the host cells endomembranes to support various stages of its replication cycle. However, in spite of this general reliance of MERS-CoV replication on host cell lipid metabolism, mechanistic insights are still very limited. In our study, we show that pharmacological inhibition of acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC), a key enzyme in the host cells fatty acid biosynthesis pathway, significantly disrupts MERS-CoV particle assembly without exerting a negative effect on the biogenesis of viral replication organelles. Furthermore, our study highlights the potential of ACC as a target for the development of host-directed antiviral therapeutics against coronaviruses.