Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus nsp13 Protein Downregulates Neonatal Fc Receptor Expression by Causing Promoter...

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is a highly pathogenic porcine enteric coronavirus that causes severe watery diarrhea and even death in piglets. The neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn) is the only transport receptor for IgG. FcRn expressed by intestinal epithelial cells can transport IgG from breast milk to piglets to provide immune protection. Previous studies have shown that viral infection affects FcRn expression. In this study, we showed for the first time, to our knowledge, that FcRn expression can be influenced by methyltransferases. In addition, we found that PEDV inhibited FcRn protein synthesis in porcine small intestinal epithelial cells postinfection. Then, we found that PEDV interfered with the transcription of genes through aberrant methylation modification of the FcRn promoter. DNA methyltransferase 3b (DNMT3b) has been implicated in this process. Using a series of PEDV structural and nonstructural protein (nsp) expression plasmids, we showed that nsp13 plays an important role in this aberrant methylation modification. PEDV nsp13 can affect the NF-κB canonical pathway and promote DNMT3b protein expression by facilitating p65 protein binding to chromatin. PEDV caused aberrant methylation of the FcRn promoter via DNMT3b. The same phenomenon was found in animal experiments with large white piglets. IgG transcytosis demonstrated that PEDV nsp13 can inhibit bidirectional IgG transport by FcRn. In addition, the core region of nsp13 (230-597 aa) is critical for FcRn inhibition. Taken together, to our knowledge, our findings revealed a novel immune escape mechanism of PEDV and shed new light on the design and development of vaccines and drugs.