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Li S, Ge H, Li Y, Zhang K, Yu S, Cao H, Wang Y, Deng H, Li J, Dai J, Li LF, Luo Y, Sun Y, Geng Z, Dong Y, Zhang H, Qiu HJ. The E301R protein of African swine fever virus functions as a sliding clamp involved in viral genome replication. mBio 2023; 14:e0164523. [PMID: 37772878 PMCID: PMC10653895 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.01645-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2023] [Accepted: 08/22/2023] [Indexed: 09/30/2023] Open
Abstract
IMPORTANCE Sliding clamp is a highly conserved protein in the evolution of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. The sliding clamp is required for genomic replication as a critical co-factor of DNA polymerases. However, the sliding clamp analogs in viruses remain largely unknown. We found that the ASFV E301R protein (pE301R) exhibited a sliding clamp-like structure and similar functions during ASFV replication. Interestingly, pE301R is assembled into a unique ring-shaped homotetramer distinct from sliding clamps or proliferating cell nuclear antigens (PCNAs) from other species. Notably, the E301R gene is required for viral life cycle, but the pE301R function can be partially restored by the porcine PCNA. This study not only highlights the functional role of the ASFV pE301R as a viral sliding clamp analog, but also facilitates the dissection of the complex replication mechanism of ASFV, which provides novel clues for developing antivirals against ASF.
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Affiliation(s)
- Su Li
- State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, National African Swine Fever Para-Reference Laboratory, National High-Containment Facilities for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, China
| | - Hailiang Ge
- State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, National African Swine Fever Para-Reference Laboratory, National High-Containment Facilities for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, China
- College of Animal Sciences, Yangtze University, Jingzhou, China
| | - Yanhua Li
- Multidiscipline Research Center, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Kehui Zhang
- State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, National African Swine Fever Para-Reference Laboratory, National High-Containment Facilities for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, China
| | - Shaoxiong Yu
- State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, National African Swine Fever Para-Reference Laboratory, National High-Containment Facilities for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, China
| | - Hongwei Cao
- State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, National African Swine Fever Para-Reference Laboratory, National High-Containment Facilities for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, China
| | - Yanjin Wang
- State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, National African Swine Fever Para-Reference Laboratory, National High-Containment Facilities for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, China
| | - Hao Deng
- State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, National African Swine Fever Para-Reference Laboratory, National High-Containment Facilities for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, China
| | - Jiaqi Li
- State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, National African Swine Fever Para-Reference Laboratory, National High-Containment Facilities for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, China
| | - Jingwen Dai
- State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, National African Swine Fever Para-Reference Laboratory, National High-Containment Facilities for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, China
| | - Lian-Feng Li
- State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, National African Swine Fever Para-Reference Laboratory, National High-Containment Facilities for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, China
| | - Yuzi Luo
- State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, National African Swine Fever Para-Reference Laboratory, National High-Containment Facilities for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, China
| | - Yuan Sun
- State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, National African Swine Fever Para-Reference Laboratory, National High-Containment Facilities for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, China
| | - Zhi Geng
- Multidiscipline Research Center, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Yuhui Dong
- Multidiscipline Research Center, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Heng Zhang
- Multidiscipline Research Center, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Hua-Ji Qiu
- State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, National African Swine Fever Para-Reference Laboratory, National High-Containment Facilities for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, China
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Wu J, Zheng H, Gong P. Crystal structure of African swine fever virus pE301R reveals a ring-shaped trimeric DNA sliding clamp. J Biol Chem 2023:104872. [PMID: 37257822 PMCID: PMC10320598 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2023.104872] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2022] [Revised: 05/11/2023] [Accepted: 05/23/2023] [Indexed: 06/02/2023] Open
Abstract
African swine fever virus (ASFV) is an important animal pathogen that is causing a current ASF pandemic and affecting pork industry globally. ASFV encodes at least 150 proteins, and the functions of many of them remain to be clarified. The ASFV protein E301R (pE301R) was predicted to be a DNA sliding clamp protein homolog working as a DNA replication processivity factor. However, structural evidence was lacking to support the existence of a ring-shaped sliding clamp in large eukaryotic DNA viruses. Here we have solved a high-resolution crystal structure of pE301R and identified a canonical ring-shaped clamp comprising a pE301R trimer. Interestingly, this complete-toroidal structure is different from those of the monomeric clamp protein homolog, herpes simplex virus UL42, and the C-shaped dimeric human cytomegalovirus UL44, but highly homologous to that of the eukaryotic clamp homolog proliferating cell nuclear antigen. Moreover, pE301R has a unique N-terminal extension (NE) that is important in maintaining the trimeric form of the protein in solution, while specific features in length and surface electrostatic potential of its inter-domain connector (IDC) implies specificity in interactions with binding partners such as the viral DNA polymerase. Thus, our data pave the way for further dissection of the processivity clamp protein structural and functional diversity and ASFV DNA replication mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiqin Wu
- Key Laboratory of Special Pathogens and Biosafety, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Center for Biosafety Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.262 Jin Long Street, Wuhan, Hubei, 430207, China
| | - Haixue Zheng
- State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology and OIE/National Foot and Mouth Disease Reference Laboratory, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730046, China
| | - Peng Gong
- Key Laboratory of Special Pathogens and Biosafety, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Center for Biosafety Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.262 Jin Long Street, Wuhan, Hubei, 430207, China; Drug Discovery Center for Infectious Diseases, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300350, China; Hubei Jiangxia Laboratory, Wuhan, Hubei 430207, China.
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