Abstract：
Virus replication relies on complex interactions between viral proteins. In the case of African swine fever virus (ASFV), only a few such interactions have been identified so far. In this study, we demonstrate that ASFV protein p72 interacts with p11.5 using co-immunoprecipitation and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). It was found that protein p72 interacts specifically with p11.5 at sites amino acids (aa) 1-216 of p72 and aa 1-68 of p11.5. To assess the importance of p11.5 in ASFV infection, we developed a recombinant virus (ASFVGZΔA137R) by deleting the A137R gene from the ASFVGZ genome. Compared with ASFVGZ, the infectious progeny virus titers of ASFVGZΔA137R were reduced by approximately 1.0 logs. In addition, we demonstrated that the growth defect was partially attributable to a higher genome copies-to-infectious virus titer ratios produced in ASFVGZΔA137R-infected MA104 cells than in those infected with ASFVGZ. This finding suggests that MA104 cells infected with ASFVGZΔA137R may generate larger quantities of noninfectious particles. Importantly, we found that p11.5 did not affect virus-cell binding or endocytosis. Collectively, we show for the first time the interaction between ASFV p72 and p11.5. Our results effectively provide the relevant information of the p11.5 protein. These results extend our understanding of complex interactions between viral proteins, paving the way for further studies of the potential mechanisms and pathogenesis of ASFV infection.
摘要：
病毒复制依赖于蛋白质之间的复杂相互作用。对蛋白质相互作用的全面了解可能为开发新的抗病毒策略提供线索。在非洲猪瘟病毒（ASFV）的情况下，到目前为止，只有少数蛋白质相互作用被鉴定出来。在这项研究中,我们使用免疫共沉淀和液相色谱-质谱(LC-MS)证明ASFV蛋白p72与p11.5相互作用。发现蛋白质p72在p72的氨基酸（aa）1-216和p11.5的aa1-68位点与p11.5特异性相互作用。为了评估p11.5在ASFV感染中的重要性，我们通过从ASFVGZ基因组中删除A137R基因开发了重组病毒（ASFVGZΔA137R）。与ASFVGZ相比，ASFVGZΔA137R的感染性子代病毒滴度降低了约1.0个对数。此外,我们证明，生长缺陷部分归因于ASFVGZΔA137R感染的MA104细胞中产生的基因组拷贝与感染性病毒滴度比高于ASFVGZ感染的细胞。这一发现表明，用ASFVGZΔA137R感染的MA104细胞可能会产生大量的非感染性颗粒。重要的是,我们发现p11.5不影响病毒-细胞结合或内吞作用.总的来说，我们首次展示了ASFVp72和p11.5之间的相互作用。我们的结果有效地提供了p11.5蛋白的相关信息。这些结果扩展了我们对病毒蛋白之间复杂相互作用的理解，为进一步研究ASFV感染的潜在机制和发病机制奠定了基础。
