Ubiquitylation is one of the most versatile protein post-translational modifications and is frequently altered during virus infections. Here we employed a functional proteomics screen to identify host proteins that are differentially ubiquitylated upon dengue virus (DENV) infection. Among the several differentially modified proteins identified in infected cells was AUP1, a lipid droplet-localized type-III membrane protein, which exists predominantly in the mono-ubiquitylated form. AUP1 associated with DENV NS4A and relocalized from lipid droplets to autophagosomes upon infection. Virus production was abolished in cells deleted for AUP1 or expressing an AUP1 acyltransferase domain mutant. Ubiquitylation disrupted the AUP1-NS4A interaction, resulting in inhibited acyltransferase activity, defective lipophagy, and attenuated virus production. Our results show that DENV-NS4A exploits the acyltransferase activity of AUP1 to trigger lipophagy, a process regulated by ubiquitylation. This mechanism appears to be a general phenomenon in biogenesis of flaviviruses and underscores the critical role of post-translational modifications in virus infections.

Background: To date, very few cellular factors required for secretion of flaviviruses have been described. Results: Simultaneous depletion of class II Arf (Arf4 and Arf5) blocks dengue flavivirus secretion, without altering the constitutive secretory pathway. Dengue glycoprotein prM interacts with Arf4 and Arf5. Conclusion: Arf4 and Arf5 play a crucial role in dengue flavivirus secretion. Significance: Our findings reveal a molecular mechanism of dengue flavivirus secretion.

Membrane receptors at the surface of target cells are key host factors for virion entry; however, it is unknown whether trafficking and secretion of progeny virus requires host intracellular receptors. In this study, we demonstrate that dengue virus (DENV) interacts with KDEL receptors (KDELR), which cycle between the ER and Golgi apparatus, for vesicular transport from ER to Golgi. Depletion of KDELR by siRNA reduced egress of both DENV progeny and recombinant subviral particles (RSPs). Coimmunoprecipitation of KDELR with dengue structural protein prM required three positively charged residues at the N terminus, whose mutation disrupted protein interaction and inhibited RSP transport from the ER to the Golgi. Finally, siRNA depletion of class II Arfs, which results in KDELR accumulation in the Golgi, phenocopied results obtained with mutagenized prME and KDELR knockdown. Our results have uncovered a function for KDELR as an internal receptor involved in DENV trafficking.