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Updated: Mar 19, 2026

Lipid Droplet Isolation for Quantitative Mass Spectrometry Analysis
Published on: April 17, 2017
Cytomegalovirus Restructures Lipid Rafts via a US28/CDC42-Mediated Pathway, Enhancing Cholesterol Efflux from Host
Hann Low1, Nigora Mukhamedova1, Huanhuan L Cui2
1Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia.
Abstract:
Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) contains cholesterol, but how HCMV interacts with host cholesterol metabolism is unknown. We found that, in human fibroblasts, HCMV infection increased the efflux of cellular cholesterol, despite reducing the abundance of ABCA1. Mechanistically, viral protein US28 was acting through CDC42, rearranging actin microfilaments, causing association of actin with lipid rafts, and leading to a dramatic change in the abundance and/or structure of lipid rafts. These changes displaced ABCA1 from the cell surface but created new binding sites for apolipoprotein A-I, resulting in enhanced cholesterol efflux. The changes also reduced the inflammatory response in macrophages. HCMV infection modified the host lipidome profile and expression of several genes and microRNAs involved in cholesterol metabolism. In mice, murine CMV infection elevated plasma triglycerides but did not affect the level and functionality of high-density lipoprotein. Thus, HCMV, through its protein US28, reorganizes lipid rafts and disturbs cell cholesterol metabolism.
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