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African swine fever virus (ASFV) is a large and complex DNA virus that causes a highly lethal swine disease, against which there is no vaccine available except in Vietnam. ASFV has developed multiple strategies to evade the antiviral innate immune responses. Here, we revealed that the D129L protein (pD129L), a nonstructural protein of ASFV, counteracted the type I interferon (IFN) responses and IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs) expression. Furthermore, we demonstrated that knockdown of D129L by specific small interfering RNAs enhanced the transcription of IFN-β mRNA in the ASFV-infected primary porcine alveolar macrophages (PAMs). Mechanistically, pD129L did not affect the expression of adaptors in the cGAS-STING signaling pathway or the nuclear translocation of IFN regulatory factor 3 (IRF3). Importantly, pD129L specifically bound to the transcriptional coactivators CBP/p300 in the nucleus and inhibited the interaction of IRF3 with CBP/p300, which in turn suppressed the activation of the IFN-β promoter to antagonize the IFN-β induction. More specifically, the HrcA domain of pD129L and the IRF3-binding domain of p300 were mapped crucial for their interaction. Taken together, our findings demonstrate a novel immunoevasion mechanism evolved by ASFV to escape the host antiviral response, which provides a new target for the development of antiviral strategies. IMPORTANCE African swine fever (ASF) is an acute, hemorrhagic, and severe porcine infectious disease caused by African swine fever virus (ASFV). ASF outbreaks severely threaten the global pig industries and result in serious economic losses. No safe and efficacious commercial vaccine is currently available except in Vietnam. To date, large gaps in the knowledge concerning viral biological characteristics and immunoevasion strategies have hindered the ASF vaccine design. In this study, we demonstrate that pD129L negatively regulates the type I interferon (IFN) signaling pathway by interfering with the interaction of the transcriptional coactivator p300 and IRF3, thereby inhibiting the induction of type I IFNs. This study reveals a novel immunoevasion strategy employed by ASFV, shedding new light on the intricate mechanisms for ASFV to evade the host immune responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The H240R protein (pH240R), encoded by the H240R gene of African swine fever virus (ASFV), is a 241-amino-acid capsid protein. We previously showed that the deletion of H240R from the ASFV genome, creating ASFV-ΔH240R, resulted in an approximately 2-log decrease in infectious virus production compared with the wild-type ASFV strain (ASFV-WT), and ASFV-ΔH240R induced higher interleukin 1β (IL-1β) production in porcine alveolar macrophages (PAMs) than did ASFV-WT, but the underlying mechanism remains to be elucidated. Here, we demonstrate that the activation of the NF-κB signaling and NLRP3 inflammasome was markedly induced in PAMs upon ASFV-ΔH240R infection compared with ASFV-WT. Moreover, pH240R inhibited NF-κB activation by interacting with NEMO and promoting the autophagymediated lysosomal degradation of NEMO, resulting in reduced pro-IL-1β transcription. Strikingly, NLRP3 deficiency in PAMs inhibited the ASFV-DH240R-induced IL-1β secretion and caspase 1 activation, indicating an essential role of NLRP3 inflammasome activation during ASFV-ΔH240R replication. Mechanistically, pH240R interacted with NLRP3 to inhibit its oligomerization, leading to decreased IL-1β production. Furthermore, the inhibition of the NF-κB signaling and NLRP3 inflammasome activation promoted ASFV-ΔH240R replication in PAMs. Taken together, the results of this study reveal an antagonistic mechanism by which pH240R suppresses the host immune response by manipulating activation of the NF-κB signaling and NLRP3 inflammasome, which might guide the rational design of live attenuated vaccines or therapeutic strategies against ASF in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

African swine fever virus (ASFV) is a complex nucleocytoplasmic large DNA virus that causes African swine fever, a lethal hemorrhagic disease that currently threatens the pig industry. Recent studies have identified the viral structural proteins of infectious ASFV particles. However, the functional roles of several ASFV structural proteins remain largely unknown. Here, we characterized the function of the ASFV structural protein H240R (pH240R) in virus morphogenesis. pH240R was identified as a capsid protein by using immunoelectron microscopy and interacted with the major capsid protein p72 by pulldown assays. Using a recombinant ASFV, ASFV-DH240R, with the H240R gene deleted from the wild-type ASFV (ASFV-WT) genome, we revealed that the infectious progeny virus titers were reduced by approximately 2.0 logs compared with those of ASFV-WT. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the growth defect was due to the generation of noninfectious particles with a higher particle-to-infectious titer ratio in ASFV-DH240R-infected primary porcine alveolar macrophages (PAMs) than in those infected with ASFV-WT. Importantly, we found that pH240R did not affect virus-cell binding, endocytosis, or egress but did affect ASFV assembly; noninfectious virions containing large aberrant tubular and bilobulate structures comprised nearly 98% of all virions observed in ASFV-DH240R-infected PAMs by electron microscopy. Notably, we demonstrated that ASFV-DH240R infection induced high-level expression of inflammatory cytokines in PAMs. Collectively, we show for the first time that pH240R is essential for ASFV icosahedral capsid formation and infectious particle production. Also, these results highlight the importance of pH240R in ASFV morphogenesis and provide a novel target for the development of ASF vaccines and antivirals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]