The Important Role of Lipid Raft-Mediated Attachment in the Infection of Cultured Cells by Coronavirus Infectious Bronchitis Virus Beaudette Strain

Guo, Huichen; Huang, Mei; Yuan, Quan; Wei, Yanquan; Gao, Yuan; Mao, Lejiao; Gu, Lingjun; Tan, Yong Wah; Zhong, Yanxin; Liu, Dingxiang; Sun, Shiqi

As functional membrane microdomains, lipid rafts contain abundant cholesterol and sphingolipids [9] , which are also termed detergent-insoluble glycolipid-enriched complexes or detergent-resistant membranes because of their significant features, such as composition and detergent resistance [10] . Specific microdomains exist in biological membranes; however, the existence of lipid rafts in living cells still remains controversial [11] . Lipid rafts are involved in some important cellular processes, including signal transduction, cell migration, and axonal guidance [12] [13] [14] [15] . In addition, numerous studies have revealed that lipid rafts are important during viral infection. For example, lipid rafts are critical in multiple stages of the life cycles of dengue and hepatitis C viruses [16] . Furthermore, lipid rafts are involved in the binding and entry of host cells for several enveloped and non-enveloped viruses, including human immunodeficiency virus [17] , poliovirus [18] , human herpes virus 6 [19] , West Nile virus [20] , footand-mouth disease virus [21] , and simian virus 40 [22] . Moreover, lipid rafts are involved in the assembly and egress of some viruses, including rotavirus, measles virus, Newcastle disease virus, influenza virus, Ebola virus, and Marburg virus [23] [24] [25] [26] .