Vaccinia protein-protein interactions

A total of 266 predicted ORFs in the vaccinia genomic sequence were screened against each other using the two-hybrid system, and 37 protein-protein interactions were detected. Many of the complexes detected include proteins involved in viral DNA replication, transcription and virion formation. Problems are encountered in the study of viral membrane proteins because of their lack of solubility. Some of the interactions identified are new and make good cases for further experimental testing. For example, a putative replication complex involving three proteins - DYR, DSR and A20R - is identified.This work sets an excellent precedent for similar studies with other large viruses such as herpesviruses. The number of interacting pairs detected is disappointingly low, however, and some of these may be artifactual as the proteins may be expressed at different times during viral infection. In addition to virus protein-protein interactions, many virus proteins interact with cellular proteins during infection. The study of such interactions at a genomic scale is still difficult to tackle, but may be possible in the near future.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America