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Updated: Apr 16, 2026
Quantification of Circulating Pig-Specific DNA in the Blood of a Xenotransplantation Model
Published on: September 22, 2020
Molecular cloning and functional characterization of porcine cyclic GMP-AMP synthase
Jiang Wang1, Beibei Chu1, Lili Du1
1College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, Henan Province, PR China; Key Laboratory of Animal Biochemistry and Nutrition, Ministry of Agriculture, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, Henan Province, PR China.
Abstract:
Cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS), which belongs to the nucleotidyltransferase family, recognizes cytosolic DNA and induces the type I interferon (IFN) pathway through the synthesis of the second messenger cGAMP. In this study, porcine cGAS (p-cGAS) was identified and its tissue distribution, subcellular localization, and functions in innate immunity were characterized. The coding sequence of p-cGAS is 1494 bp long, encodes 497 amino acids, and is most similar (74%) to Bos taurus cGAS. p-cGAS mRNA is abundant in the spleen, duodenum, jejunum, and ileum. The subcellular distribution of p-cGAS is not only in the cytosol, but also on the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane. The overexpression of wild-type p-cGAS in porcine kidney epithelial cells, but not its catalytically inactive mutants, induced IFN-β expression, which was dependent on STING and IRF3. However, the downregulation of p-cGAS by RNA interference markedly reduced IFN-β expression after pseudorabies virus (PRV) infection or poly(dA:dT) transfection. These results demonstrate that p-cGAS is an important DNA sensor, required for IFN-β activation.
