African Swine Fever Virus MGF110-7L Induces Host Cell Translation Suppression and Stress Granule Formation by Activating the PERK/PKR-eIF2α Pathway
Han Zhong, Shuai Fan, Yongkun Du, Yuhang Zhang, Angke Zhang, Dawei Jiang, Shichong Han, Bo Wan, Gaiping Zhang
Abstract
African swine fever (ASF) has become a socioeconomic burden and a threat to food security and biodiversity, but no commercial vaccines or antivirals are available currently. Understanding the viral strategies to subvert the host translation machinery during ASF virus (ASFV) infection could potentially lead to new vaccines and antiviral therapies. In this study, we dissected how ASFV MGF110-7L interacts with the eIF2α signaling axis controlling translational reprogramming, and we addressed the role of MGF110-7L in induction of cellular stress responses, eIF2α phosphorylation, translation suppression, and stress granule formation. These results define several molecular interfaces by which ASFV MGF110-7L subverts host cell translation, which may guide research on antiviral strategies and dissection of ASFV pathogenesis.