Comment by a_bonobo

and we do know that cholesterol build-up is linked with reduced mobility:

'Late endocytic vesicles loaded with cholesterol lose their dynamic properties, and become essentially immobile'

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1093/emboj/21.6.1289

we also know that blocking cholesterol in viruses leads the cholesterol-stuffed lysosomes to recruit DCTN1

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-50711-4

but I can't find anything that links a DCTN1 downregulation directly - as you say, this is a hypothesis a PhD student comes up with during literature review.