Porcine hemagglutinating encephalomyelitis virus nucleocapsid protein targets RIG-I and IRF3 to evade IFN immunity

The neurotropic betacoronavirus porcine hemagglutinating encephalomyelitis virus (PHEV) subverts early innate defenses to establish persistent neuronal infection. We show that PHEV activates RIG-I-MAVS signaling but hijacks this pathway to induce a delayed IRF7-dependent interferon (IFN-I) response (>12 h post-infection), permitting unchecked replication prior to late-phase immunity. Mechanistically, the viral nucleocapsid (N) protein directly engages RIG-I's caspase activation and recruitment d