Interferons: Reprogramming the metabolic network against viral infection

Abstract

Viruses exploit the host and induce drastic metabolic changes to ensure an optimal environment for replication and the production of viral progenies. In response, the host has developed diverse countermeasures to sense and limit these alterations to combat viral infection. One such host mechanism is through interferon signaling. Interferons are cytokines that enhances the transcription of hundreds of interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) whose products are key players in the innate immune response to viral infection. In addition to their direct targeting of viral components, interferons and ISGs exert profound effects on cellular metabolism. Recent studies have started to illuminate on the specific role of interferon in rewiring cellular metabolism to activate immune cells and limit viral infection. This review reflects on our current understanding of the complex networking that occurs between the virus and host at the interface of cellular metabolism, with a focus on the ISGs in particular, cholesterol-25-hydroxylase (CH25H), spermidine/spermine acetyltransferase 1 (SAT1), indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase (IDO1) and sterile alpha motif and histidine/aspartic acid domain-containing protein 1 (SAMHD1), which were recently discovered to modulate specific metabolic events and consequently deter viral infection.