Remodeling of the cellular endomembrane system by viruses allows for efficient and coordinated replication of the viral genome in distinct subcellular compartments termed replication organelles. As a critical step in the viral life cycle, replication organelle formation is an attractive target for therapeutic intervention, but factors central to this process are only partially understood. In this study, we corroborate that two viral proteins, nsp3 and nsp4, are the major drivers of membrane remodeling in SARS-CoV-2 infection. We further report a number of host cell factors interacting with these viral proteins and supporting the viral replication cycle, some of them by contributing to the formation of the SARS-CoV-2 replication organelle.
Keywords: coronavirus; double-membrane vesicle; host-pathogen interactions.