Dengue virus is particularly sensitive to interference with long-chain fatty acid elongation and desaturation

Orthoflaviviruses are emerging arthropod-borne pathogens whose replication cycle is tightly linked to host lipid metabolism. Previous lipidomic studies demonstrated that infection with the closely related hepatitis C virus (HCV) changes the fatty acid (FA) profile of several lipid classes. Lipids in HCV-infected cells had more very long-chain and desaturated FAs and viral replication relied on functional FA elongation and desaturation. Here, we systematically analyzed the role of FA elongases and desaturases in infection models of the most prevalent pathogenic orthoflaviviruses, dengue (DENV), Zika (ZIKV), West Nile (WNV), yellow fever (YFV), and tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV). Knockdown of desaturases and elongases in Huh7 cells only marginally affected ZIKV, WNV, YFV, and TBEV replication, while DENV titers were strongly reduced. This was most prominent for enzymes involved in very long-chain fatty acid synthesis. In detail, knockdown of the FA elongase ELOVL4, which catalyzes ultra-long-chain FA synthesis, significantly reduced DENV titers, decreased the formation of replication intermediates, and lowered viral protein levels in DENV-infected hepatoma cells, suggesting a function of ELOVL4 in DENV RNA replication. In contrast, the activity of FA desaturase FADS2, rate-limiting in poly-unsaturated FA biosynthesis, is not involved in viral RNA replication or translation, but is essentially required for the formation of infectious DENV particles. Further, in immunocompetent immortalized microglial cells, FADS2 deletion additionally limits viral replication through increased expression of interferon-stimulated genes in response to DENV infection. Taken together, enzymes involved in very long-chain FA synthesis are critical for different steps of DENV replication.