Viral rewiring of cellular lipid metabolism to create membranous replication compartments

Positive-strand RNA (+RNA) viruses (e.g. poliovirus, hepatitis C virus, dengue virus, SARS-coronavirus) remodel cellular membranes to form so-called viral replication compartments (VRCs), which are the sites where viral RNA genome replication takes place. To induce VRC formation, these viruses extensively rewire lipid metabolism. Disparate viruses have many commonalities as well as disparities in their interactions with the host lipidome and accumulate specific sets of lipids (sterols, glycerophospholipids, sphingolipids) at their VRCs. Recent years have seen an upsurge in studies investigating the role of lipids in +RNA virus replication, in particular of sterols, and uncovered that membrane contact sites and lipid transfer proteins are hijacked by viruses and play pivotal roles in VRC formation.