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Updated: Sep 18, 2025

Arbovirus Infections As Screening Tools for the Identification of Viral Immunomodulators and Host Antiviral Factors
Published on: September 13, 2018
Mammalian fatty acid synthase: a commonly used viral host dependency factor and a putative target for host-targeted
Paola N Loperena González1,2, Krithika P Karthigeyan1, Jacqueline Corry1
1Department of Microbiology and Center for Retrovirus Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Abstract:
Viruses regulate host processes to create cellular environments favorable to viral replication. At least 27 viruses that infect humans require host fatty acid synthase (FASN)-dependent de novo fatty acid biosynthesis, including viruses from the Coronaviridae, Flaviviridae, Herpesviridae, Picornaviridae, Retroviridae, and Togaviridae families. How could FASN activity and subsequent de novo fatty acid production impact viral replication? FASN activity produces the fatty acid palmitate, which can be further metabolized into fatty acids that are used to form lipid droplets that can be used during viral assembly and budding, for beta-oxidation to generate ATP, and to create fatty acyl groups used for post-translational protein modification to change the subcellular localization of viral or host proteins. In this minireview, we outline the function of FASN, review the mechanisms linking virus replication and fatty acid biosynthesis, and consider the potential of FASN as a target for broad-spectrum antiviral drug development.
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Overview of Fatty Acid Metabolism
Fatty acids are catabolized in a process called beta-oxidation, which takes place in the matrix of the mitochondria and converts their fatty acid chains into two-carbon units of acetyl groups. The acetyl...

