{
  "abstract": "African swine fever virus (ASFV) I73R encodes a protein consisting only of a Zalpha (Zα) domain. Here, we studied its biochemical properties. Complementary approaches demonstrated that I73R is a multifunctional Zα domain that combines Z-binding, B-to-Z conversion, and liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) induction activities. I73R proved to be a better converter than human ADAR1 Zα, and it retained conversion activity with Y48I mutation of its Z-binding site. Next, we investigated I73R biological functions, leading to the following findings: (i) Ectopic expression of I73R or mutated I73R with deficient Z-binding both inhibited arsenite-induced stress granules to a similar extent, and none of these proteins localized within these organelles. (ii) I73R formed cytosolic condensates with dsRNA, Z-DNA, and Z-RNA in ASFV-infected cells. (iii) Rescuing of ASFV I73R deletion by sequences encoding natural, mutated, and chimeric forms of Zα domains demonstrated that I73R mediated both Z-binding-dependent and -independent biological functions through induction of LLPS. This conclusion was further supported by the effect of the LLPS inhibitor 1,6-hexanediol on the replication of ASFV I73R recombinant strains. This study further demonstrates the functional diversity that exists among Zα domains. It unravels new outlooks targeting Zα domain-mediated LLPS for the development of pharmaceutical molecules able to regulate viral and cellular Zα domain-containing proteins.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Virology-Vaccinology, Department of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Fundamental and Applied Research for Animals & Health (FARAH), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège , Liège B-4000 ,",
    "State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Public Health and Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University , Beijing 100193 ,",
    "Department of Chemistry, Sungkyunkwan University , Suwon 16419 ,",
    "Key Laboratory of Zoonosis Prevention and Control of Guangdong Province, College of Veterinary Medicine, South China Agricultural University , Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642 ,"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 15,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Sébastien Pirotte"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Yingnan Liu"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Laurie Conti"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Lisa Conti"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Hyuk Won"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Seon Jeong Im"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Cédrik Ferhad"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Yunlong Hu"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Owen Donohoe",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-1068-5248"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Mamadou Amadou Diallo"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Lang Gong"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Rongrong Wang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Yang-Gyun Kim"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Hongjun Chen"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Alain Vanderplasschen",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-8625-9907"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6fkz4x34qkac9.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1093/nar/gkag1008",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13728637",
  "id": "6fkz4x34qkac9",
  "issns": [
    "0305-1048",
    "1362-4962"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://academic.oup.com/nar/article/doi/10.1093/nar/gkag1008/9010736",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "AcademicSubjects/SCI00010"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "RNA and RNA-protein complexes"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": "https://academic.oup.com/nar/article-pdf/54/20/gkag1008/72842080/gkag1008.pdf",
  "pmcid": "PMC13728637",
  "pmid": "42974767",
  "published": "2026-10-01",
  "publisher": "Oxford University Press (OUP)",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6fkz4x34qkac9.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-03T12:21:05Z",
      "native_id": "10.1093/nar/gkag1008",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://academic.oup.com/nar/article/doi/10.1093/nar/gkag1008/9010736"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-04T15:20:49Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42974767",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42974767"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-07T12:21:35Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13728637",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkag1008"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biochemistry",
      "origin": "issn:0305-1048",
      "subfield": "molecular-biology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "The African swine fever virus I73R protein is a multifunctional Zα domain that mediates both Z-binding-dependent and -independent biological functions through induction of phase separation",
  "title_text": "The African swine fever virus I73R protein is a multifunctional Zα domain that mediates both Z-binding-dependent and -independent biological functions through induction of phase separation",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-07T12:21:35Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6fkz4x34qkac9",
  "venue": "Nucleic Acids Research",
  "versions": []
}