The mitochondrial deacetylase SIRT3 is a host defense factor hijacked during viral infection

摘要

Efforts to develop antiviral drugs have largely been directed towards inhibiting viral proteins. However, these agents generally suffer from high toxicity and facilitate the rapid emergence of viral-resistant strains. An alternate approach to yield novel drug targets is to identify host proteins that function in host defense during infection. Moreover, identifying factors that act against multiple virus types can provide the opportunity to develop broad-range antivirals. Here, we describe the function of the mitochondrial deacetylase sirtuin 3 (SIRT3) in defense against both DNA and RNA viruses, using human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) and Influenza A (FluA) as model systems. We further define its host-virus protein interaction networks and substrates dynamically modulated during the progression of an infection.