Glycolytic interference blocks influenza A virus propagation by impairing viral polymerase-driven synthesis of genomic vRNA
Authors: Kleinehr J. , Daniel K. , Günl F. , Janowski J. , Brunotte L. , Liebmann M. , Behrens M. , Gerdemann A. , Klotz L. , Esselen M. , Humpf H.-U. , Ludwig S. , Hrincius E. R. 
Published: November 2022

Influenza A virus (IAV), like any other virus, provokes considerable modifications of its host cell’s metabolism. This includes a substantial increase in the uptake as well as the metabolization of glucose. Although it is known for quite some time that suppression of glucose metabolism restricts virus replication, the exact molecular impact on the viral life cycle remained enigmatic so far. Using 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) we examined how well inhibition of glycolysis is tolerated by host cells and which step of the IAV life cycle is affected. We observed that effects induced by 2-DG are reversible and that cells can cope with relatively high concentrations of the inhibitor by compensating the loss of glycolytic activity by upregulating other metabolic pathways. Moreover, mass spectrometry data provided information on various metabolic modifications induced by either the virus or agents interfering with glycolysis. In the presence of 2-DG viral titers were significantly reduced in a dose-dependent manner. The supplementation of direct or indirect glycolysis metabolites led to a partial or almost complete reversion of the inhibitory effect of 2-DG on viral growth and demonstrated that indeed the inhibition of glycolysis and not ofN-linked glycosylation was responsible for the observed phenotype. Importantly, we could show via conventional and strand-specific qPCR that the treatment with 2-DG led to a prolonged phase of viral mRNA synthesis while the accumulation of genomic vRNA was strongly reduced. At the same time, minigenome assays showed no signs of a general reduction of replicative capacity of the viral polymerase. Therefore, our data suggest that the significant reduction in IAV replication by glycolytic interference occurs mainly due to an impairment of the dynamic regulation of the viral polymerase which conveys the transition of the enzyme’s function from transcription to replication.

Author Summary

Upon infection the influenza A virus alters the metabolism of infected cells. Among others, this includes a pronounced increase in glucose metabolism. We aimed to get a better understanding of these metabolic virus-host interactions and to unravel the mechanism by which glycolytic inhibition impairs the viral life cycle. On the one hand, we observed a virus-induced upregulation of many glycolysis metabolites which could often be reversed by the administration of a glycolysis inhibitor. On the other hand, our data suggested that the inhibitor treatment severely impaired viral propagation by interfering with the regulation of the viral polymerase. This manifested in an extended phase of transcription, while replication was strongly reduced. Additionally, we assessed the safety and tolerability of the used drug in immortalized and primary cells. Our study sheds more light on metabolic virus-host interactions and provides a better understanding of metabolic interference as a potential host-targeted antiviral approach, which does not bear the risk of creating resistances.