- Heinl, Elena-Sofia;
- Lorenz, Sebastian;
- Schmidt, Barbara;
- Laqtom, Nouf Nasser M;
- Mazzulli, Joseph R;
- Francelle, Laetitia;
- Yu, Timothy W;
- Greenberg, Benjamin;
- Storch, Stephan;
- Tegtmeier, Ines;
- Othmen, Helga;
- Maurer, Katja;
- Steinfurth, Malin;
- Witzgall, Ralph;
- Milenkovic, Vladimir;
- Wetzel, Christian H;
- Reichold, Markus
The SARS-CoV-2 virus has triggered a worldwide pandemic. According to the BioGrid database, CLN7 (MFSD8) is thought to interact with several viral proteins. The aim of this work was to investigate a possible involvement of CLN7 in the infection process. Experiments on a CLN7-deficient HEK293T cell line exhibited a 90% reduced viral load compared to wild-type cells. This observation may be linked to the finding that CLN7 ko cells have a significantly reduced GM1 content in their cell membrane. GM1 is found highly enriched in lipid rafts, which are thought to play an important role in SARS-CoV-2 infection. In contrast, overexpression of CLN7 led to an increase in viral load. This study provides evidence that CLN7 is involved in SARS-CoV-2 infection. This makes it a potential pharmacological target for drug development against COVID-19. Furthermore, it provides insights into the physiological function of CLN7 where still only little is known about.