Structure and function of African swine fever virus proteins: Current understanding

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Virology
• Molecular Biology
• Infectious Diseases

Background:

• African swine fever virus (ASFV) is a highly infectious, lethal DNA virus causing significant global pig industry losses.
• ASFV outbreaks, first reported in 1921, have spread worldwide, including major outbreaks in China in 2018.
• Despite decades of research since the 1960s, no effective vaccine currently prevents ASFV epidemic spread.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the current understanding of African swine fever virus (ASFV) protein structure and function.
• To highlight the challenges in developing ASFV vaccines due to viral complexity.
• To guide future research towards effective ASFV vaccine development.

Main Methods:

• Comprehensive literature review of ASFV protein research.
• Analysis of structural and non-structural ASFV proteins.
• Synthesis of recent findings on ASFV protein roles.

Main Results:

• ASFV's complex structure, with numerous proteins, complicates vaccine development.
• Understanding protein structure-function relationships is crucial for targeted vaccine design.
• Existing vaccine strategies (inactivated, live-attenuated, subunit) have not halted epidemic spread.

Conclusions:

• A deeper exploration of ASFV protein structure and function is essential.
• Identifying key viral proteins is critical for developing a successful ASF vaccine.
• Targeting ASFV proteins offers a promising avenue for future vaccine strategies.