Chronological expression and distribution of African swine fever virus p30 and p72 proteins in experimentally infected pigs

Abstract

African swine fever virus (ASFV), the causative agent of contagious hemorrhagic disease in domestic pigs and wild boars, has temporally regulated gene expression kinetics. The p30 and p72 major structural proteins are involved in viral entry each with different expression kinetics, but neither of their chronological expressions and distribution have been identified in virus-infected animals. Here, we found that both transcription and translation levels of p30 were significantly higher than those of p72 in target organs during the earlier infection-phase. Lymphocyte apoptosis/necrosis and angiectasia were observed as signs of early infection with acute African swine fever. These results show that the chronologically differential expression of ASFV structural proteins tends to be prominent in infected animals, and the p30 protein could play a role in the indication of acute lesions during early infection compared to the late-expressed p72 protein. In conclusion, we propose to consider the chronological expression dynamics of ASFV structural proteins in infected animals to understand virus pathogenesis and antigen targeting for vaccine development.