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Istrate C, Marques J, Bule P, Correia S, Aires-da-Silva F, Duarte M, Reis AL, Machuqueiro M, Leitão A, Victor BL. In Silico Characterization of African Swine Fever Virus Nucleoprotein p10 Interaction with DNA. Viruses 2022; 14:v14112348. [PMID: 36366446 PMCID: PMC9694697 DOI: 10.3390/v14112348] [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] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2022] [Revised: 10/21/2022] [Accepted: 10/22/2022] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
African swine fever virus (ASFV) is the etiological agent of a highly contagious, hemorrhagic infectious swine disease, with a tremendous sanitary and economic impact on a global scale. Currently, there are no globally available vaccines or treatments. The p10 protein, a structural nucleoprotein encoded by ASFV, has been previously described as capable of binding double-stranded DNA (dsDNA), which may have implications for viral replication. However, the molecular mechanism that governs this interaction is still unknown, mostly due to the lack of a structural model for this protein. In this work, we have generated an ab initio model of the p10 protein and performed extensive structural characterization, using molecular dynamics simulations to identify the motifs and residues regulating DNA recognition. The helix-turn-helix motif identified at the C-terminal region of the protein was shown to be crucial to the dsDNA-binding efficiency. As with other DNA-binding proteins, two distinct serine and lysine-rich regions found in the two helices were identified as key players in the binding to DNA, whose importance was later validated using experimental binding assays. Altogether, these findings may contribute to a better understanding of the p10 function in ASFV replication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudia Istrate
- CIISA—Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon, 1300-477 Lisboa, Portugal
- Associate Laboratory for Animal and Veterinary Sciences (AL4AnimalS), 1300-477 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Jéssica Marques
- BioISI—Biosystems & Integrative Sciences Institute, Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Pedro Bule
- CIISA—Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon, 1300-477 Lisboa, Portugal
- Associate Laboratory for Animal and Veterinary Sciences (AL4AnimalS), 1300-477 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Sílvia Correia
- CIISA—Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon, 1300-477 Lisboa, Portugal
- Associate Laboratory for Animal and Veterinary Sciences (AL4AnimalS), 1300-477 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Frederico Aires-da-Silva
- CIISA—Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon, 1300-477 Lisboa, Portugal
- Associate Laboratory for Animal and Veterinary Sciences (AL4AnimalS), 1300-477 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Marlene Duarte
- CIISA—Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon, 1300-477 Lisboa, Portugal
- Associate Laboratory for Animal and Veterinary Sciences (AL4AnimalS), 1300-477 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Ana Luísa Reis
- The Pirbright Institute, Ash Road, Pirbright, Surrey GU24 0NF, UK
| | - Miguel Machuqueiro
- BioISI—Biosystems & Integrative Sciences Institute, Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Alexandre Leitão
- CIISA—Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon, 1300-477 Lisboa, Portugal
- Associate Laboratory for Animal and Veterinary Sciences (AL4AnimalS), 1300-477 Lisboa, Portugal
- Correspondence: (A.L.); (B.L.V.)
| | - Bruno L. Victor
- BioISI—Biosystems & Integrative Sciences Institute, Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
- Correspondence: (A.L.); (B.L.V.)
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