25-Hydroxycholesterol Inhibits Kaposi’s Sarcoma Herpesvirus and Epstein-Barr Virus Infections and Activates Inflammatory Cytokine Responses
Anna K. P. Serquiña, Takanobu Tagawa, Daniel Oh, Guruswamy Mahesh, Joseph M. Ziegelbauer
Abstract
A cholesterol derivative, 25-hydroxycholesterol (25HC), has been demonstrated to inhibit infections from widely different bacteria and viruses, including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). However, its mechanism of activity is still not fully understood. In this work, we look at gene expression changes in the host and virus after 25HC treatment to find clues about its antiviral activity. We likewise demonstrate that 25HC is also antiviral against EBV, a common cancer-causing virus. We compared our results with previous data from antiviral screening assays and found the same pathways resulting in antiviral activity. Together, these results bring us closer to understanding how a modified form of cholesterol works against several viruses.