The hypothetical role of phosphatidic acid in subverting ER membranes during SARS-CoV infection

Abstract

Positive sense (+) RNA viruses exploit membranes from a variety of cellular organelles to support the amplification of their genomes. This association concurs with the formation of vesicles whose main morphological feature is that of being wrapped by a double membrane. In the case of the SARS-CoV virus, the outer membrane is not discrete for each vesicle, but seems to be continuous and shared between many individual vesicles, a difference with other +RNA viruses whose nature has remained elusive. I present morphological, biochemical and pharmacological arguments defending the striking analogy of this arrangement and that of entangled, nascent Lipid Droplets whose birth has been aborted by an excess of Phosphatidic Acid. Since Phosphatidic Acid can be targeted with therapeutical purposes, considering this working hypothesis may prove important in tackling SARS-CoV infection.