Multiple Porcine Innate Immune Signaling Pathways Are Involved in the Anti-PEDV Response.

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Virology
• Innate Immunology
• Molecular Biology

Background:

• Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) causes substantial economic losses in the global swine industry.
• The precise role of innate immunity in combating PEDV infection remains incompletely understood.
• Understanding antiviral mechanisms is vital for mitigating PEDV outbreaks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the involvement of porcine innate immune signaling adaptors in anti-PEDV activity.
• To elucidate the specific roles of TRIF, MAVS, and STING in the innate immune response against PEDV.
• To provide insights into novel antiviral strategies for PEDV control.

Main Methods:

• Transfection of Vero cells with innate immune signaling adaptors.
• Assessment of anti-PEDV activity using an AJ1102-like strain.
• Agonist stimulation and siRNA knockdown assays to evaluate TRIF, MAVS, and STING function.
• CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to create TRIF, MAVS, and STING knockout Vero cells.
• Validation in porcine intestinal epithelial cells (IPEC-DQ).

Main Results:

• TRIF and MAVS demonstrated significant anti-PEDV activity in transfected Vero cells.
• Endogenous TRIF, MAVS, and STING signaling pathways exhibited clear anti-PEDV effects.
• Knockdown and knockout studies confirmed the involvement of TRIF, MAVS, and STING in restricting PEDV replication.
• These findings were reproducible in porcine IPEC-DQ cells.

Conclusions:

• Multiple pattern-recognition receptor (PRR) signaling pathways, including TRIF, MAVS, and STING, are critical components of the porcine innate immune response against PEDV.
• This study enhances our understanding of antiviral mechanisms relevant to PEDV infection.
• The identified pathways offer potential targets for developing new strategies to prevent and control PEDV spread.