RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Convergent use of phosphatidic acid for Hepatitis C virus and SARS-CoV-2 replication organelle formation JF bioRxiv FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory SP 2021.05.10.443480 DO 10.1101/2021.05.10.443480 A1 Keisuke Tabata A1 Vibhu Prasad A1 David Paul A1 Ji-Young Lee A1 Minh-Tu Pham A1 Woan-Ing Twu A1 Christopher J. Neufeldt A1 Mirko Cortese A1 Berati Cerikan A1 Cong Si Tran A1 Christian Lüchtenborg A1 Philip V’kovski A1 Katrin Hörmann A1 André C. Müller A1 Carolin Zitzmann A1 Uta Haselmann A1 Jürgen Beneke A1 Lars Kaderali A1 Holger Erfle A1 Volker Thiel A1 Volker Lohmann A1 Giulio Superti-Furga A1 Britta Brügger A1 Ralf Bartenschlager YR 2021 UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/05/10/2021.05.10.443480.abstract AB Double membrane vesicles (DMVs) are used as replication organelles by phylogenetically and biologically distant pathogenic RNA viruses such as hepatitis C virus (HCV) and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). Viral DMVs are morphologically analogous to DMVs formed during autophagy, and although the proteins required for DMV formation are extensively studied, the lipids driving their biogenesis are largely unknown. Here we show that production of the lipid phosphatidic acid (PA) by acylglycerolphosphate acyltransferase (AGPAT) 1 and 2 in the ER is important for DMV biogenesis in viral replication and autophagy. Using DMVs in HCV-replicating cells as model, we found that AGPATs are recruited to and critically contribute to HCV replication and DMV formation. AGPAT1/2 double knockout also impaired SARS-CoV-2 replication and the formation of autophagosome-like structures. By using correlative light and electron microscopy, we observed the relocalization of AGPAT proteins to HCV and SARS-CoV-2 induced DMVs. In addition, an intracellular PA sensor accumulated at viral DMV formation sites, consistent with elevated levels of PA in fractions of purified DMVs analyzed by lipidomics. Apart from AGPATs, PA is generated by alternative pathways via phosphotidylcholine (PC) and diacylglycerol (DAG). Pharmacological inhibition of these synthesis pathways also impaired HCV and SARS-CoV-2 replication as well as formation of autophagosome-like DMVs. These data identify PA as an important lipid used for replication organelle formation by HCV and SARS-CoV-2, two phylogenetically disparate viruses causing very different diseases, i.e. chronic liver disease and COVID-19, respectively. In addition, our data argue that host-targeting therapy aiming at PA synthesis pathways might be suitable to attenuate replication of these viruses.One Sentence Summary Phosphatidic acid is important for the formation of double membrane vesicles, serving as replication organelles of hepatitis C virus and SARS-CoV-2, and offering a possible host-targeting strategy to treat SARS-CoV-2 infection.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.