Irradiation accelerates SARS-CoV-2 infection by enhancing sphingolipid metabolism.

ABSTRACT: Cancer patients who receive radiotherapy have a high risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, but the concrete reason remains unclear. Herein, we investigated the influence of irradiation on the vulnerability of cancer cells to SARS-CoV-2 using S pseudovirions and probed the underlying mechanism via RNA-seq and other molecular biology techniques. Owing to the enhancement of sphingolipid metabolism, irradiation accelerated pseudovirion infection. Mechanistically, irradiation induced the expression of acid sphingomyelinase (ASM), which catalyses the hydrolysis of sphingomyelin to ceramide, contributing to lipid raft formation and promoting SARS-CoV-2 invasion. Inhibition of lipid raft formation with methyl-β-cyclodextrin (MβCD) or the tyrosine kinase in

SUBMITTER: Wei Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9877973 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature