Targeting metabolic reprogramming by influenza infection for therapeutic intervention

Influenza infection is a worldwide health and financial burden posing a significant risk to the immune-compromised, obese, diabetic, elderly, and pediatric populations. We identified increases in glucose metabolism in the lungs of pediatric patients infected with respiratory pathogens. Using quantitative mass spectrometry we found metabolic changes occurring after influenza infection in primary human respiratory cells, and validated infection associate increases in c-Myc, glycolysis, and glutaminolysis. We confirmed these findings with a metabolic drug screen and high throughput titering that identified the PI3K/mTOR inhibitor BEZ235 as a regulator of infectious virus production. BEZ235 treatment ablated the transient induction of c-Myc, restored PI3K/mTOR pathway homeostasis measured by 4E-BP1 and p85 phosphorylation, and reversed infection-induced changes in glucose and glutamine metabolism. Importantly, BEZ235 reduced infectious progeny but had no effect on viral entry or the early stages of viral replication. In a lethal infection model, BEZ235 significantly increased survival while reducing viral titer and respiratory distress. Here we show metabolic reprogramming of host cells by influenza virus exposes targets for therapeutic intervention.