Computational approaches for prediction of protein-protein interaction between Foot-and-mouth disease virus and Sus scrofa based on RNA-Seq

Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) is a highly contagious trans-boundary viral disease caused by FMD virus, which causes huge economic losses. FMDV infects cloven hoofed (two-toed) mammals such as cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and various wildlife species. To control the FMDV, it is necessary to understand the life cycle and the pathogenesis of FMDV in host. Especially, the protein-protein interaction between FMDV and host will help to understand the survival cycle of viruses in host cell and establish new therapeutic strategies. However, the computational approach for protein-protein interaction between FMDV and pig hosts have not been applied to studies of the onset mechanism of FMDV. In the present work, we have performed the prediction of the pig's proteins which interact with FMDV based on RNA-Seq data, protein sequence, and structure information. After identifying the virus-host interaction, we looked for meaningful pathways and anticipated changes in the host caused by infection with FMDV. A total of 78 proteins of pig were predicted as interacting with FMDV. The 156 interactions include 94 interactions predicted by sequence-based method and the 62 interactions predicted by structure-based method using domain information. The protein interaction network contained integrin as well as STYK1, VTCN1, IDO1, CDH3, SLA-DQB1, FER, and FGFR2 which were related to the up-regulation of inflammation and the down-regulation of cell adhesion and host defense systems such as macrophage and leukocytes. These results provide clues to the knowledge and mechanism of how FMDV affects the host cell.