Haiyong Chen , Xiaofang Lin

Tropical Animal Medicine Center, Hainan Institute of Tropical Agricultural Resources, Sanya, 572024, Hainan, China
Author    Correspondence author
Biological Evidence, 2024, Vol. 14, No. 5   doi: 10.5376/be.2024.14.0024
Received: 21 Aug., 2024    Accepted: 28 Sep., 2024    Published: 11 Oct., 2024

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Chen H.Y., and Lin X.F., 2024, ASFV proteins as drug targets: insights from genomic and proteomic studies, Bioscience Evidence, 14(5): 229-237 (doi: 10.5376/be.2024.14.0024)

The study characterizes African swine fever virus (ASFV) proteins that can serve as potential drug targets, leveraging insights from genomic and proteomic analyses. Through high-throughput proteomic analysis, several ASFV proteins, including P34, E199L, MGF360-15R, and E248R, were found to interact with key cellular pathways such as intracellular and Golgi vesicle transport, endoplasmic reticulum organization, lipid biosynthesis, and cholesterol metabolism. Notably, Rab proteins, crucial regulators of the endocytic pathway, were identified as significant interactors of P34 and E199L, suggesting their role in ASFV infection. Additionally, proteins like MGF-505-7R, MGF-360-10L, and MGF360-9L were shown to inhibit the JAK-STAT signaling pathway, thereby evading the host immune response and promoting viral virulence. The I73R protein was identified as a Z-DNA binding protein, providing structural insights that could aid in the design of targeted inhibitors. The findings highlight several ASFV proteins as critical players in the virus's ability to hijack host cellular mechanisms and evade immune responses. These proteins represent promising targets for the development of antiviral drugs and vaccines, offering new avenues for combating ASFV infections.

African swine fever virus (ASFV); Drug targets; Proteomics; Genomic analysis; JAK-STAT signaling; Rab proteins; Z-DNA binding protein; Viral virulence; Antiviral strategies