ARF4-mediated intracellular transport as a broad-spectrum antiviral target.

Host factors that are involved in modulating cellular vesicular trafficking of virus progeny could be potential antiviral drug targets. ADP-ribosylation factors (ARFs) are GTPases that regulate intracellular vesicular transport upon GTP binding. Here we demonstrate that genetic depletion of ARF4 suppresses viral infection by multiple pathogenic RNA viruses including Zika virus (ZIKV), influenza A virus (IAV) and SARS-CoV-2.

Altered ISGylation drives aberrant macrophage-dependent immune responses during SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Ubiquitin-like protein ISG15 (interferon-stimulated gene 15) (ISG15) is a ubiquitin-like modifier induced during infections and involved in host defense mechanisms. Not surprisingly, many viruses encode deISGylating activities to antagonize its effect. Here we show that infection by Zika, SARS-CoV-2 and influenza viruses induce ISG15-modifying enzymes.