Virus-Cell Interaction Section, HIV Drug Resistance Program, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD 21702, USA.
Interferons elicit antiviral responses by inducing the expression of a large number of host cell genes. In this issue of Cell Host & Microbe, Wang and colleagues report that the interferon-inducible protein viperin inhibits influenza A virus release by impairing the formation of cholesterol-enriched plasma membrane microdomains, or lipid rafts. Viperin appears to disrupt lipid rafts by suppressing the activity of farnesyl diphosphate synthase, a key enzyme in isoprenoid biosynthesis.