Evaluation of the African swine fever virus-induced host shutoff using dynamic stable isotope labeling with amino acids in cell culture (SILAC)

African swine fever is a viral disease of swine caused by the African swine fever virus (ASFV). Currently, ASFV is a serious threat to the global pig industry. A viral strategy to undermine host cell response is to establish a global shutoff of host protein synthesis (virus-induced shutoff, vhs). Here, we characterize ASFV-induced shutoff in primary porcine macrophages by measurement of relative protein synthesis rates based on stable isotope labeling with amino acids in cell culture (SILAC). The impact of ASFV infection on the synthesis of >2000 individual host proteins showed a high degree of variability ranging from complete shutoff to a strong induction of proteins that are absent from naïve cells. By GO-term enrichment analysis the cellular pathways that were most efficiently impacted by vhs were identified. The experimental setup is suitable to quantify vhs after infections with different viruses.