In recent years the emergence and resurgence of arboviruses have generated a global health alert. Among arboviruses, Dengue (DENV), Zika (ZIKV), Yellow Fever (YFV), and West Nile (WNV) virus, belong to the genus Flavivirus, cause high viremia and occasionally fatal clinical disease in humans. Given the genetic austerity of the virus, they depend on cellular factors and organelles to complete its replication. One of the cellular components required for flavivirus infection is cholesterol. Cholesterol is an abundant lipid in biomembranes of eukaryotes cells and is necessary to maintain the cellular homeostasis. Recently, it has been reported, that cholesterol is fundamental during flavivirus infection in both mammal and insect vector models. During infection with DENV, ZIKV, YFV, and WNV the modulation of levels of host-cholesterol facilitates viral entry, replicative complexes formation, assembly, egress, and control of the interferon type I response. This modulation involves changes in cholesterol uptake with the concomitant regulation of cholesterol receptors as well as changes in cholesterol synthesis related to important modifications in cellular metabolism pathways. In view of the flavivirus dependence of cholesterol and the lack of an effective anti-flaviviral treatment, this cellular lipid has been proposed as a therapeutic target to treat infection using FDA-approved cholesterol-lowering drugs. This review aims to address the dependence of cholesterol by flaviviruses as well as the basis for anti flaviviral therapy using drugs which target is cholesterol synthesis or uptake.

Since its appearance, the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), the causal agent of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), represents a global problem for human health that involves the host lipid homeostasis. Regarding, lipid rafts are functional membrane microdomains with highly and tightly packed lipid molecules. These regions enriched in sphingolipids and cholesterol recruit and concentrate several receptors and molecules involved in pathogen recognition and cellular signaling. Cholesterol-rich lipid rafts have multiple functions for viral replication; however, their role in SARS-CoV-2 infection remains unclear. In this review, we discussed the novel evidence on the cholesterol-rich lipid rafts as a platform for SARS-CoV-2 entry, where receptors such as the angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE-2), heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs), human Toll-like receptors (TLRs), transmembrane serine proteases (TMPRSS), CD-147 and HDL-scavenger receptor B type 1 (SR-B1) are recruited for their interaction with the viral spike protein. FDA-approved drugs such as statins, metformin, hydroxychloroquine, and cyclodextrins (methyl-β-cyclodextrin) can disrupt cholesterol-rich lipid rafts to regulate key molecules in the immune signaling pathways triggered by SARS-CoV-2 infection. Taken together, better knowledge on cholesterol-rich lipid rafts in the SARS-CoV-2-host interactions will provide valuable insights into pathogenesis and the identification of novel therapeutic targets.

No abstract

During flavivirus infection, some viral proteins move to the nucleus and cellular components are relocated from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. Thus, the integrity of the main regulator of the nuclear-cytoplasmic transport, the nuclear pore complex (NPC), was evaluated during infection with dengue virus (DENV) and Zika virus (ZIKV). We found that while during DENV infection the integrity and distribution of at least three nucleoporins (Nup), Nup153, Nup98, and Nup62 were altered, during ZIKV infection, the integrity of TPR, Nup153, and Nup98 were modified. In this work, several lines of evidence indicate that the viral serine protease NS2B3 is involved in Nups cleavage. First, the serine protease inhibitors, TLCK and Leupeptin, prevented Nup98 and Nup62 cleavage. Second, the transfection of DENV and ZIKV NS2B3 protease was sufficient to inhibit the nuclear ring recognition detected in mock-infected cells with the Mab414 antibody. Third, the mutant but not the active (WT) protease was unable to cleave Nups in transfected cells. Thus, here we describe for the first time that the NS3 protein from flavivirus plays novel functions hijacking the nuclear pore complex, the main controller of the nuclear-cytoplasmic transport.

SummaryFlavivirus infections are a public health threat in the world that requires the development of safe and effective vaccines. Therefore, the understanding of the anti‐flavivirus humoral immune response is fundamental to future studies on flavivirus pathogenesis and the design of anti‐flavivirus therapeutics. This review aims to provide an overview of the current understanding of the function and involvement of flavivirus proteins in the humoral immune response as well as the ability of the anti‐envelope (anti‐E) antibodies to interfere (neutralizing antibodies) or not (non‐neutralizing antibodies) with viral infection, and how they can, in some circumstances enhance dengue virus infection on Fc gamma receptor (FcγR) bearing cells through a mechanism known as antibody‐dependent enhancement (ADE). Thus, the dual role of the antibodies against E protein poses a formidable challenge for vaccine development. Also, we discuss the roles of antibody binding stoichiometry (the concentration, affinity, or epitope recognition) in the neutralization of flaviviruses and the “breathing” of flavivirus virions in the humoral immune response. Finally, the relevance of some specific antibodies in the design and improvement of effective vaccines is addressed.

Immunological factors, such as cytokines, have been proposed as a cause of changes in the lipid profile of dengue patients. We studied whether serum lipid levels and serum TNF-α levels are associated in a group of dengue patients from an endemic region in the Northwest of Mexico. We found statistically important differences in the serum lipid profile and the TNF-α levels of dengue patients compared with the control group, were observed. However, TNF-α levels did not correlate with the lipid profile of dengue patients.

Dengue virus (DENV) is an arbovirus, which replicates in the endoplasmic reticulum. Although replicative cycle takes place in the cytoplasm, some viral proteins such as NS5 and C are translocated to the nucleus during infection in mosquitoes and mammalian cells. To localized viral proteins in DENV-infected C6/36 cells, an immunofluorescence (IF) and immunoelectron microscopy (IEM) analysis were performed. Our results indicated that C, NS1, NS3 and NS5 proteins were found in the nucleus of DENV-infected C6/36 cells. Additionally, complex structures named strand-like structures (Ss) were observed in the nucleus of infected cells. Interestingly, the NS5 protein was located in these structures. Ss were absent in mock-infected cells, suggesting that DENV induces their formation in the nucleus of infected mosquito cells.

Background: COVID-19 has been recognized as an emerging and rapidly evolving health condition. For this reason, efforts to determine changes in laboratory parameters of COVID-19 patients as biomarkers are urgent. Lipids are essential components of the human body, and their modulation has been observed implicated in some viral infections. Methods: To evaluate the clinical diagnosis utility of the lipid profile changes in Mexican COVID-19 patients, the lipid profile of one hundred two COVID-19 positive patients from three hospitals in Culiacan, Sinaloa in northwest Mexico, was analyzed. ROC curves and binary logistic regression analysis were used as a predictive model to determine their clinical diagnostic utility. Results: Significant changes in the serum lipid profile of patients with COVID-19, such as low levels of cholesterol, LDL, and HDL, while high triglycerides and VLDL were observed. The same abnormalities in the lipid profile among non-critical and critical COVID-19 patients were detected. The predictive model analysis suggests that cholesterol and LDL have AUC values of 0.710 and 0.769, respectively, for COVID-19 (p= 0.0002 and p= <0.0001), and LDL low levels might be a risk factor for critical COVID-19 (OR= 2.07, 95% IC: 1.18 to 3.63; p= 0.01). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that low cholesterol and LDL levels could be considered an acceptable predictor for COVID-19, and low levels of LDL might be a risk factor for critical COVID-19 patients.