Quantitative proteomic analysis of PK-15 cells infected with porcine circovirus type 3 using 4D-DIA approach

Porcine circovirus type 3 (PCV3) infection is clinically related to various diseases, including porcine dermatitis and nephrotic syndrome (PDNS)-like disease, respiratory disease, reproductive disorders, and gastrointestinal and neurological diseases. Since PCV3 infection was discovered in 2016, it has developed rapidly and has attracted much attention worldwide. However, specific preventive and therapeutic interventions are currently lacking. In this study, four-dimensional (4D) data-independent acquisition (DIA)-based quantitative proteomics detection combined with bioinformatics analysis were employed to quantitatively identify the differentially expressed proteins in PK-15 cells from the PCV3-infected group compared with those from the uninfected control group. A total of 194 cellular proteins were significantly altered in response to PCV3 infection, including 58 upregulated proteins and 136 downregulated proteins. In our Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis, these differentially expressed proteins were mostly associated with cellular anatomical entities, binding, cellular processes, biological regulation, catalytic activity, metabolic processes, developmental processes, protein-containing complexes and responses to stimuli. Our Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis revealed that the DEPs were predominantly involved in metabolic pathways, the cAMP signaling pathway, protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum, the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, and the calcium signaling pathway. For the experiments, Western blotting (WB) was used to confirm the changes in important molecules. The differentially expressed proteins identified should contribute to a greater understanding of the mechanism of PCV3 replication and pathogenesis, as well as the host response.