The interactome of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus nucleocapsid protein

Background Many viral proteins specifically interact with cellular proteins to facilitate virus replication. Understanding these interactions can decipher the viral infection mechanism and provide potential targets for antiviral therapy. Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), the agent of PED, causes numerous economic losses for the swine industry each year. Till now, no effective vaccine or drugs are available to contain this disease. As a result, it is critical urgent to elucidate the PEDV interactome. The nucleocapsid (N) of PEDV plays an important role in viral replication. Results In this study, the N gene was cloned into pEGFP-C1 and transfected into 293T cells. The interactome of N was elucidated by label-free mass spectrometry. A total of 125 cellular proteins interacting with PEDV N protein were discovered, of which 4 cellular proteins, DHX9, NCL, KAP1, TCEA1, were confirmed by pull down, immunoprecipitation, and co-localization. Conclusions The interactome of N protein supplied a powerful tool to explore the role of N in PEDV infection and therapeutic targets.