A CRISPR activation screen identifies CH25H as a restriction factor against influenza viruses by targeting accessible cholesterol
Jinyu Huang, Kaixiong Ma, Shiping Ding, Yunmeng Wang, Junlong Xiong, Jiahui Yi, Jiahao Zhang, Zhuoliang He, Lihong Huang, Xingxing Ren, Jiangtao Zhou, Xiaona Chen, Lele Liu, Wenbao Qi, Shaobo Wang, Ming Liao · 2026
Read A CRISPR activation screen identifies CH25H as a restriction factor against influenza viruses by targeting accessible cholesterol by Jinyu Huang, Kaixiong Ma, Shiping Ding, Yunmeng Wang, Junlong Xiong, Jiahui Yi, Jiahao Zhang, Zhuoliang He, Lihong Huang, Xingxing Ren, Jiangtao Zhou, Xiaona Chen, Lele Liu, Wenbao Qi, Shaobo Wang, Ming Liao (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13215439.txt.
Description
Jinyu Huang and co-authors report a 2026 laboratory study that screened human genes for ones able to block influenza A virus. The team used a genome-wide CRISPR activation screen, a method that switches genes on one by one.
The screen pointed to CH25H, an enzyme that converts cholesterol into a compound called 25-hydroxycholesterol. Turning CH25H on stopped the virus from fusing with cell membranes by moving accessible cholesterol away from the cell surface. Adding cholesterol back reversed the block, and a transport system involving GRAMD1 proteins carried the cholesterol. The natural product 25-hydroxycholesterol also suppressed infection in animals, which marks it as a possible antiviral lead.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Jinyu Huang, Kaixiong Ma, Shiping Ding, Yunmeng Wang, Junlong Xiong, Jiahui Yi, Jiahao Zhang, Zhuoliang He, Lihong Huang, Xingxing Ren, Jiangtao Zhou, Xiaona Chen, Lele Liu, Wenbao Qi, Shaobo Wang, Ming Liao |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 67 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |