Abstract
The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is the largest intracellular organelle. It forms a complex network of continuous sheets and tubules, extending from the nuclear envelope (NE) to the plasma membrane. This network is frequently perturbed by positive-strand RNA viruses utilizing the ER to create membranous replication factories (RFs), where amplification of their genomes occurs. In addition, many enveloped viruses assemble progeny virions in association with ER membranes, and viruses replicating in the nucleus need to overcome the NE barrier, requiring transient changes of the NE morphology. This review first summarizes some key aspects of ER morphology and then focuses on the exploitation of the ER by viruses for the sake of promoting the different steps of their replication cycles.
Highlights
Upon infection of a host cell, viruses frequently induce alterations of intracellular organelles which serve multiple purposes, including the formation of replication factories (RFs) or the assembly of infectious virus progeny
These cisternae serve as precursors for viral membranes and are recruited to the viral factories (VFs), where they are ruptured into a dense network of open, single-bilayer membrane sheets accumulating in the center of the Paramecium Bursaria Chlorella Virus 1 (PBCV-1) factories
Similar double-membrane vesicles (DMVs) have been found in cells infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV, family Flaviviridae) [104,105,106] (Figure 3D). This observation was surprising because flaviviruses (e.g., dengue virus (DENV) and Tick Borne Encephalitis Virus (TBEV)) belonging to the same family induce RFs with a very different morphology (ER membrane invaginations; see above) suggesting that even closely related viruses can utilize distinct cellular pathways to build up their RFs
Summary
Upon infection of a host cell, viruses frequently induce alterations of intracellular organelles which serve multiple purposes, including the formation of replication factories (RFs) or the assembly of infectious virus progeny. The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is the largest cellular organelle and the most commonly hijacked “niche” during viral infection. In this review we briefly summarize our current knowledge about the ER architecture and its functions and discuss how viruses exploit. ER membranes to promote the different steps of the viral replication cycle
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