Adenovirus RID-alpha activates an autonomous cholesterol regulatory mechanism that rescues defects linked to Niemann-Pick disease type C.

Host-pathogen interactions are important model systems for understanding fundamental cell biological processes. In this study, we describe a cholesterol-trafficking pathway induced by the adenovirus membrane protein RID-alpha that also subverts the cellular autophagy pathway during early stages of an acute infection. A palmitoylation-defective RID-alpha mutant deregulates cholesterol homeostasis and elicits lysosomal storage abnormalities similar to mutations associated with Niemann-Pick type C (NPC) disease. Wild-type RID-alpha rescues lipid-sorting defects in cells from patients with this disease by a mechanism involving a class III phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase. In contrast to NPC disease gene products that are localized to late endosomes/lysosomes, RID-alpha induces the accumulation of autophagy-like vesicles with a unique molecular composition. Ectopic RID-alpha regulates intracellular cholesterol trafficking at two distinct levels: the egress from endosomes and transport to the endoplasmic reticulum necessary for homeostatic gene regulation. However, RID-alpha also induces a novel cellular phenotype, suggesting that it activates an autonomous cholesterol regulatory mechanism distinct from NPC disease gene products.