Activated HMGCR is required for the formation of DENV-replication complexes and the maintenance of its architecture.

<p>The distribution of HMGCR and components of viral replication complexes (NS4A and E viral proteins) was evaluated by confocal microscopy in Huh7 cells infected with DENV2 (MOI 3) and treated with DMSO 0.5% (vehicle), 10 mM Metformin or 50 μM lovastatin (HMGCR inhibitor) for 24h. The integrity of replication complexes is depicted as the co-localization between NS4A and E proteins. In <b>A</b> is indicated the distribution of HMGCR <b>(red)</b>, NS4A <b>(light blue)</b>, and E protein <b>(green)</b> as well as the colocalization per infected cell of NS4A/HMGCR <b>(B)</b> and NS4A/E <b>(C)</b> represented by mean ± S.E of the colocalization of 60 infected cells per condition. <b>D</b> and <b>E</b> represent the mean fluorescence intensity of NS4A protein <b>(D)</b> and HMGCR <b>(E)</b> analyzed by flow cytometry. Graphs represent the mean fluorescence intensity ± S.E of three independent experiments, the histograms indicate the fluorescence intensity of a representative experiment.