Journal Article

Characterization of the First Marine Pestivirus, Phocoena Pestivirus (PhoPeV)

Isken, Olaf, Meyer, Denise, Postel, Alexander, König, Matthias, Söder, Lars, Becher, Paul, Tautz, Norbert

2025

Overview

The first marine pestivirus, Phocoena pestivirus (PhoPeV), isolated from harbor porpoise, has been recently described. To further characterize this unique pestivirus, its host cell tropism and growth kinetics were determined in different cell lines. In addition, the interaction of PhoPeV with innate immunity in porcine epithelial cells and the role of selected cellular factors involved in the viral entry and RNA replication of PhoPeV were investigated in comparison to closely and distantly related pestiviruses. While Bungowannah pestivirus (BuPV), a unique porcine pestivirus closely related to PhoPeV, exhibits a broad cell tropism, PhoPeV only infects cells from pigs, cattle, sheep, and cats, as has been described for classical swine fever virus (CSFV). Viral titers correlate with the amount of intracellular PhoPeV-specific RNA detected in the tested cell lines. PhoPeV replicates most efficiently in the porcine kidney cell line SK6. Pestiviruses generally counteract the cellular innate immune response by degradation of interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) mediated by the viral N-terminal protease (Npro). No degradation of IRF3 and an increased expression of the type 1 interferon-stimulated antiviral protein Mx1 was observed in porcine cells infected with PhoPeV whose genome lacks the Npro encoding region. Infection of a CD46-deficient porcine cell line suggested that CD46, which is implicated in the viral entry of several pestiviruses, is not a major factor for the viral entry of PhoPeV. Moreover, the results of this study confirmed that the cellular factor DNAJC14 plays a crucial role in viral RNA replication of non-cytopathic pestiviruses, including PhoPeV.

• Publisher: MDPI AG,MDPI
• Subject: Animals / Antibodies / Antigens / Antiviral drugs / Bungowannah pestivirus / Cattle / CD46 antigen / Cell Line / Cell lines / Cells / classical swine fever virus / Diarrhea / Epidemics / Epithelial cells / Epithelial Cells - virology / Farms / Fetuses / Flaviviridae / Genomes / Glycoproteins / Hog cholera / Hogs / Immune response / Immunity (Disease) / Immunity, Innate / Infections / Innate immunity / Interferon / Interferon regulatory factor / Interferon regulatory factor 3 / Pathogens / Pestivirus / Pestivirus - classification / Pestivirus - genetics / Pestivirus - isolation & purification / Pestivirus - physiology / Pestivirus Infections - veterinary / Pestivirus Infections - virology / Phocoena / Phocoena pestivirus / Replication / Ribonucleic acid / RNA / RNA viruses / RNA, Viral / Swine / Tropism / Viral Tropism / Virology / Virus Internalization / Virus Replication / Virus research / Viruses