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Journal of Virology, July 2007, p. 7371-7379, Vol. 81, No. 14
0022-538X/07/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JVI.00513-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Veterinary Medicine Research and Development, Animal Health Division, Pfizer Inc., 7000 Portage Road, Kalamazoo, Michigan 49001
Received 12 March 2007/ Accepted 1 May 2007
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Fully differentiated primary porcine alveolar macrophage (PAM) constitute the predominant cell target for viral replication (4, 5). A published example of an immortalized PAM cell line, however, is not permissive for PRRSV infection (33). In addition, monocytes from peripheral blood are largely refractory to PRRSV infection. A previous study demonstrated that heparin sulfate serves as an attachment factor in the binding and internalization of PRRSV but is not required for internalization (2). In PAM cells, initial binding of virions is mediated by interaction of the viral matrix protein with heparin sulfate proteoglycans (3). Virus particles are internalized in clathrin-coated vesicles and released following acidification (21). Internalization may be facilitated by sialoadhesin, a 210- or 220-kDa membrane glycoprotein in the siglec family of sialic acid binding immunoglobulin-like lectins (32), since incubation of PAM cells with monoclonal antibody (MAb) to this polypeptide blocks PRRSV infection (6, 34). Transfection of the nonpermissive PK-15 (porcine kidney) cell line with porcine sialoadhesin conferred the ability to internalize PRRSV particles, but there remained an apparent block at the uncoating stage, since virions entered into cellular vesicles but did not undergo nucleocapsid disintegration and vesicle membrane fusion (32).
Apart from primary PAM, the only other cell type known to be fully permissive for the growth of PRRSV in vitro is the immortalized monkey kidney cell line MA-104 and its derivatives, such as MARC-145 (12). In MARC-145 cells, the internalization of the virus by endocytosis and subsequent uncoating in low-pH vesicles seem to mimic similar events in PAM (14). However, MAbs that bind to porcine sialoadhesin fail to detect a homologous protein on the surfaces of MARC-145 cells (6, 34), suggesting that MARC-145 cells may use a divergent member of the same protein family or a different receptor altogether. Recently Kim et al. (13) reported that simian vimentin is a part of the PRRSV receptor complex. The following data support this hypothesis: (i) vimentin is expressed on the surface of MARC-145; (ii) MAb to vimentin blocked PRRSV infection; (iii) introduction of simian vimentin protein rendered BHK-21 and CRFK cells susceptible to PRRSV entry; and (iv) viral RNA was detected in association with vimentin-transfected cells following incubation with PRRSV. However, the authors did not provide any evidence that cells loaded with heterologous vimentin protein supported a productive infection (i.e., production of infectious progeny virus), nor was any evidence presented that endogenous expression from vimentin cDNA conferred susceptibility to nonpermissive cells.
In this report we demonstrate that CD163, a cellular protein in the scavenger receptor cysteine-rich (SRCR) superfamily, functions as a cellular receptor for PRRSV infection. Transfection with CD163 cDNA is necessary and sufficient to render a variety of nonpermissive cell lines fully permissive to PRRSV infection with production of progeny virus.
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Library construction and screening methods. A cDNA library was constructed in the pCMV-Sport6.1 plasmid vector (Invitrogen) using RNA isolated from primary PAM. Plasmids containing library cDNA were cut with NotI and fractionated by size on agarose gels. Linear DNA was extracted from gel slices using the QIAquick gel extraction kit (QIAGEN, Valencia, CA). The library was also digested with various restriction enzymes, including PmeI, SphI, AscI, NruI, and BamHI (Invitrogen).
BHK-21 cells were transiently transfected using the Lipofectamine 2000 reagent (Invitrogen) according to the manufacturer's instructions. The transfection mixture was removed after overnight incubation and replaced with fresh medium prior to infection of the cells with P129-GFP virus (35). Inocula were removed after adsorption and replaced with fresh medium. Infection was monitored via GFP expression using a fluorescence microscope.
Construction of pRSV-Script vector containing neomycin resistant gene.
The plasmid pRc/RSV (Invitrogen) was used as a template for PCR amplification of the Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) promoter. The RSV promoter sequence between nucleotides 209 and 604 of pRc/RSV was amplified using the forward primer (5'-ACACTCGACATGTCGATGTACGGGCCAGATATACGCGT-3' with a built-in AflIII site) and a reverse primer (5'-TTCCTTACAGAGCTCGAGGTGCACACCAATGTGGTGAA-3' with a built-in SacI site). The human cytomegalovirus immediate-early promoter (CMV promoter) in pCMV-Script (Stratagene, La Jolla, CA) was replaced with the RSV promoter-containing PCR fragment by digestion of the PCR product and pCMV-Script with AflIII and SacI, gel purification of appropriate fragments, ligation, and transformation of Escherichia coli DH5
. This construct was named pRSV-Script.
In vitro ligation to generate a linear CD163 expression construct. The MARC CD163v2 cDNA proved difficult to clone into the pRSV-Script vector. To efficiently place the MARC CD163v2 gene downstream of the RSV promoter, a noncloning procedure was developed to produce microgram quantities of linear DNA suitable for use in generating stable cell lines. The process involved isolation and ligation of two gel-purified pieces of DNA, one containing the neomycin resistance gene cassette and the RSV promoter derived from pRSV-Script and the other containing the CD163 coding sequence. To accomplish this, pRSV-Script was linearized with DraIII upstream of the neomycin gene and then blunted with the Klenow fragment of E. coli DNA polymerase. This plasmid was then digested with NotI immediately downstream of the RSV promoter. The pCDNA3.1D MARC CD163v2 expression plasmid was digested upstream of the CD163 gene with NotI to generate compatible ends. The final construct is depicted in Fig. 1A. A large-scale ligation reaction was carried out as follows. Approximately 20 µg of each DNA fragment was incubated in a volume of 600 µl with 15 U of T4 DNA ligase. Following ligation, a linear piece of DNA containing the appropriate elements was purified by agarose gel electrophoresis and extraction using QIAquick kits (QIAGEN).
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FIG. 1. Constructs used for generating cell lines FK-D4 (feline kidney cells expressing simian CD163) and PK-9 (porcine kidney cells expressing porcine CD163). (A) The RSV promoter (pRSV) and neomycin resistance cassette were isolated from the pRSV-Script vector. Separately, the MARC-CD163v2 gene with a NotI 5' restriction endonuclease recognition site was removed from pCDNA3.1D. The in vitro-ligated materials were separated on a preparative agarose gel. Linear DNA containing the CD163 gene under control of the RSV promoter was excised from the gel. The purified DNA was used for transfection of NLFK cells. (B) A circular pCMV-Script plasmid containing susCD163v1 and a neomycin resistance cassette was used for transfection of PK032495 cells. SV40pA, simian virus 40 polyadenylation signal; pSV40, simian virus 40 promoter; pCMV, human CMV immediate-early promoter.
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Establishment of stable cell lines expressing CD163. Cell culture wells (35 mm) containing approximately 1 x 106 cells each were transfected with 2 to 4 µg of CD163 expression vector or a negative control plasmid (pPAMB) in serum-free and antibiotic-free medium (OptiMEM I or DMEM) and 10 µl of Lipofectamine 2000 according to the manufacturer's instructions. Cells were washed with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), removed from the substrate using Accutase (Sigma), diluted in growth medium containing 500 to 1,000 µg/ml of Geneticin (G418 sulfate, a neomycin sulfate analog; Invitrogen), and seeded into 96-well plates at various densities to ensure recovery of single-cell clones after Geneticin selection. Throughout Geneticin selection, the growth medium was changed approximately every 3 to 5 days. After Geneticin selection, wells containing single cell-clones were split and expanded in duplicate 96-well plates. One plate was screened for susceptibility to virus by infecting it with P129-GFP, while the other plate was retained as a cell stock. All engineered cell lines were routinely maintained in G418 to ensure stability of the inserted genes.
Fluorescent-antibody (FA) assays. Cell monolayers were washed once with PBS, fixed in 80% acetone for 5 to 10 min, and air dried. For detection of the PRRSV nucleocapsid (N) protein, MAb SDOW-17 (22) conjugated with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) was added to each well. After 30 to 60 min of incubation, the antibody was aspirated and monolayers were washed three times with PBS prior to viewing under a fluorescence microscope.
Antibody blocking assay. MARC-145 and FK-A6 cells (NLFK cells stably expressing human CD163v2) were incubated with dilutions of goat anti-human CD163 polyclonal antibody (R&D Systems, Minneapolis, MN) in a volume of 100 µl. As a control, equivalent amounts of normal goat immunoglobulin G (IgG) (R&D Systems) were used in replicate wells. Following a 1-h incubation at 37°C, monolayers were infected with a P129-GFP virus at a multiplicity of approximately 5. After a 1-h adsorption period, inocula were removed and cells were washed with PBS. After an additional incubation for 24 h at 37°C, cell monolayers were trypsinized, resuspended in 500 µl of PBS, and analyzed by flow cytometry. Uninfected cells were used to set the baseline for fluorescence detection, and approximately 100,000 events were recorded from each sample.
Western blot analysis. Cell monolayers were washed once with PBS, lysed in 0.5% Triton X-100, and boiled for 5 min. Lysates were loaded immediately into wells of precast 4 to 12% Novex bis-Tris gels with morpholinepropanesulfonic acid-sodium dodecyl sulfate running buffer (NuPAGE electrophoresis system) according to the manufacturer's instructions (Invitrogen). After electrophoresis under reducing conditions, protein bands were transferred to polyvinylidene difluoride membranes (Invitrogen). Membranes were blocked with 1% bovine serum albumin in PBS and reacted with goat anti-human CD163 polyclonal antibody (R&D Systems) followed by rabbit anti-goat alkaline phosphatase conjugate (Kirkegaard & Perry Laboratories, Gaithersburg, MD). Color was developed using the Western Blue alkaline phosphatase substrate (Promega, Madison, WI).
Detection of porcine sialoadhesin transcripts. A primer pair for the RT-PCR amplification of the porcine sialoadhesin mRNA (GenBank accession no. AF509585) was chosen using the PrimerSelect program (DNASTAR) and had the sequences 5'-GACGCCCACCATGACTGTTTTTGT-3' and 5'-CTGCGTGGTTTCCTTCCGAGATAC-3'. Total cellular RNA was extracted from PK-15, PK032495, or primary PAM cells using the RNeasy minikit (QIAGEN). RT-PCRs were performed using the SuperScript One-Step RT-PCR System for Long Templates kit (Invitrogen).
Nucleotide sequence accession numbers. The novel cDNA sequences described here have been deposited in the GenBank database of the National Center for Biotechnology Information (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). Accession numbers are as follows: porcine CD163 from primary alveolar macrophage, DQ067278 and DQ067279; African green monkey CD163 from MARC-145 cells, DQ067277; African green monkey CD163 from Vero cells, DQ060838, DQ060839, DQ060840, DQ060841, DQ060842, and DQ060843; human CD163 from U937 cells, DQ058615; canine CD163 from DH82 cells, DQ060836 and DQ060837; and murine CD163 from primary peritoneal macrophage, DQ058616 and DQ058617.
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FIG. 2. PAM library clone A7-1-1 contains a putative PRRSV receptor. BHK-21 cells were transiently transfected (four replicates) with either the original PAM library-derived CD163-containing clone (A7-1-1) or a vector control plasmid (pPAMB) containing a small irrelevant PAM library insert. Following overnight incubation, the transfection mixture was removed and replaced with fresh medium. After several hours at 37°C, this medium was removed and cells were infected with PRRSV P129-GFP. At 1 day postinfection, three of the replicate wells were harvested for flow cytometry (cell counts, below) and the remaining well was analyzed by fluorescence microscopy (photomicrographs, above).
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Full-length CD163 transcripts were amplified by RT-PCR from PAM mRNA and cloned into either pCR2.1-TOPO or pCDNA3.1D. Sequence analysis revealed that the full-length porcine CD163 cDNA (susCD163v2) encodes 1,115 amino acids (GenBank accession no. DQ067278) and is 98.9% identical at the amino acid level to the AJ311716 sequence. SusCD163v2 also has an additional five amino acid residues at the extreme 5' end, extending the open reading frame to an upstream ATG initiation codon as observed with susCD163v1. SusCD163v1 and susCD163v2 encode proteins with SRCR domain structures similar to that reported for human CD163 (16) (Fig. 3).
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FIG. 3. Structural domain organization of CD163 proteins. The deletion of two SRCR domains in variant susCD163v1 (middle) is compared to full-length susCD163v2 (top). A variant lacking the transmembrane domain is represented by VeroCD163 (TM ) (bottom).
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Transient transfection of BHK-21 cells with diverse CD163 cDNAs confers permissivity to PRRSV. After identification of porcine CD163 as a PRRSV receptor, we wanted to assess the ability of nonporcine CD163 cDNAs to confer permissivity. CD163 cDNAs were amplified by RT-PCR from total RNA extracted from five cell types, using primers and conditions as described in Materials and Methods. The MARC-145 cell line, derived from an African green monkey kidney, is known to support productive PRRSV infection. However, the Vero cell line, which was also derived from an African green monkey kidney, shows only very low levels of PRRSV susceptibility. Therefore, the CD163 cDNAs from both African green monkey cell lines were evaluated. The canine CD163 cDNA was also assessed, because the canine histocytosis cell line DH82 supports an abortive PRRSV infection (data not shown). Because macrophages are the natural target cells of arteriviruses, we also studied the CD163 cDNAs from the U937 human macrophage cell line and primary mouse peritoneal macrophages.
The CD163 cDNA we amplified and cloned from the MARC-145 cell line was 1,116 amino acids in length and was designated MARC CD163v2. The splice pattern of MARC CD163v2 is similar to that found in susCD163v2, and the two sequences share 84.8% amino acid identity. Relative to susCD163v2, MARC CD163v2 has single amino acid insertions between residues 138 and 139 and between residues 1041 and 1042 and a deletion of residue 1065. From Vero mRNA, eight cDNA clones with six discreet splicing patterns were identified, two of which lack the exon coding the transmembrane domain (Fig. 3). One CD163 splice variant was observed in cDNAs cloned from human U937 cells, whereas two splice variants were cloned from canine DH82 cells and two from mouse primary peritoneal macrophages. All of the above CD163 cDNAs, except the two Vero-derived cDNAs that lack the transmembrane domain, conferred PRRSV permissivity when transiently transfected into BHK-21 cells. This is consistent with a critical role of the transmembrane domain in PRRSV receptor function.
Stable cell lines expressing CD163 are permissive to PRRSV infection and produce progeny virus. Recombinant cell lines were established from BHK-21, PK032495, and NLFK cell lines, using CD163 cDNA derived from porcine, human, or monkey cells and driven by either the CMV or RSV promoter (Table 1). At least one stable cell line that supported some degree of PRRSV replication was established from each combination of parental cell, CD163 cDNA, and promoter listed in Table 1. Susceptibility was determined by the observation of foci containing nucleocapsid-expressing cells following infection with PRRSV isolate P129, using FA staining with monoclonal antibody SDOW17-FITC. The three parental cell lines were completely negative for PRRSV infection. Differences in susceptibility between individual cell clones tended to be greater than differences due to the parental cell type, CD163 variant, or promoter. From these many cell clones, we chose a small subset that displayed good growth kinetics and high PRRSV susceptibly for further characterization. Two of these cell lines, FK-D4 (feline kidney cells transfected with MARC CD163v2 driven by the RSV promoter) and PK-9 (porcine kidney cells transfected with susCD163v1 driven by the CMV promoter), were used to passage two North American PRRSV isolates (P129 and P3412) for at least 40 passages. The growth of PRRSV on these stable cell lines was determined by observing the enlargement of infected foci through time (Fig. 4).
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TABLE 1. Stable cell lines expressing CD163
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FIG. 4. Growth of PRRSV on stably transfected cells expressing CD163. Replicate wells of PK-9 cells were infected with P129/p16 (passaged 16 times in PK-9 cells). Cells were fixed daily with 80% acetone and stained with FITC-conjugated MAb SDOW-17. The PRRSV N protein was visualized by fluorescence microscopy. Development of infection started with a few infected cells on day 1 (A), followed by enlargement of foci on day 2 (B). By day 3 postinfection, approximately 80% of the cells were infected.
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FIG. 5. Time courses of PRRSV replication on PK-9 and FK-D4 cells. (A) Growth kinetics were determined for PRRSV isolate P129 (passage 19 on PK-9 cells) using a multiplicity of 0.1 ( ) and a multiplicity of 0.001 ( ) and titrated on PK-9 cells. After adsorption, inocula were removed and cells were washed with fresh medium. Culture fluids were harvested at 12-h intervals and virus titers were determined. (B) Growth curves for PRRSV P129/p38 (passage 38 on FK-D4 cells) were determined on FK-D4 cells at three passage levels to show stability of the PRRSV-permissive phenotype. Cells were evaluated at passage 19 ( ), passage 29 ( ), and passage 46 ( ). Culture fluids were titrated on PAM cells. (C) Growth curves for P3412/p17 (passage 17 on FK-D4 cells) were evaluated on FK-D4 cells at passage 19 ( ), passage 29 ( ), and passage 46 ( ). Inocula were removed after adsorption, and cells were washed with fresh medium. Culture fluids were titrated on PAM cells.
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Anti-human CD163 antibody blocks PRRSV infection. FK-A6 cells, which express the human CD163v2 gene, were treated with various concentrations of goat anti-human CD163 antibody or control goat IgG (from normal goat serum) for 1 h followed by infection with recombinant P129-GFP (preadapted to MARC-145 cells). At 24 h postinfection, flow cytometric analysis of the cells indicated that anti-CD163 antibody was able to block virus infection in a dose-dependent fashion (Fig. 6A). Anti-CD163 antibody at 0.3125 µg was able to reduce the frequency of infected FK-A6 cells by 70%, while 10 µg resulted in a greater than 90% reduction. Control goat IgG did not reduce the frequency of infected cells. In similar experiments with MARC-145 cells, a dose-dependent inhibition of infection was observed. The percentage of infected cells decreased from 67% without antibody to less than 2% when cells were pretreated with anti-CD163 antibody (Fig. 6B). This clearly demonstrates that expression of CD163 (a protein normally restricted to macrophages) is responsible for the unanticipated susceptibility of MARC-145 cells to PRRSV infection. The overall lower percentage of infected FK-A6 cells than of MARC-145 cells was most likely due to the use of MARC-145-adapted P129-GFP virus, which had not yet been adapted to grow on feline kidney cells expressing human CD163.
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FIG. 6. Blocking PRRSV infection with anti-human CD163 antibody. Infected cells were trypsinized, washed with PBS, and analyzed by flow cytometry, with at least 100,000 cells analyzed per sample. (A) Recombinant FK-A6 cells stably expressing humCD163v2 were incubated with either goat anti-human CD163-specific antibody ( ) or normal goat IgG ( ) and infected with P129-GFP virus. At 24 h postinfection, the percentage of GFP-expressing cells was determined by flow cytometry. (B) MARC-145 cells were incubated with either goat anti-human CD163-specific antibody ( ) or normal goat IgG ( ) and infected with P129-GFP virus. At 24 h postinfection, the percentage of GFP-expressing cells was determined by flow cytometry. Error bars represent the standard deviation of three replicate counts.
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FIG. 7. Western blot analysis of CD163 proteins. Lysates of MARC-145, FK-A6.A2, FK-D4, or parental NLFK were separated under reducing conditions. Proteins were transferred to a polyvinylidene difluoride membrane and incubated with goat anti-human CD163 polyclonal antibody followed by rabbit anti-goat antibody labeled with alkaline phosphatase. Membranes were developed in a Western Blue alkaline phosphatase substrate. Arrows indicate the CD163 protein at approximately 130 kDa. MW, prestained molecular mass markers (Invitrogen).
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TABLE 2. Susceptibility of cell lines to infection with PRRSV genotypes I and IIa
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FIG. 8. Detection of sialoadhesin mRNA. A primer pair located at the 3' end of the sialoadhesin gene was used in RT-PCRs to amplify sialoadhesin mRNA from PAM, PK-15, and PK032495 cells. RT-PCR products were separated on a preformed 0.8% E-gel (Invitrogen) and visualized under the UV light. A 469-bp RT-PCR fragment was amplified from PAM cells (arrow) but not from either PK cell line. M, Ready Load 1-kb ladder (Invitrogen).
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CD163 is a scavenger receptor (SR) protein. The SR proteins comprise a large number of cell surface and soluble glycoproteins involved in the recognition of various ligands, including proteins, polyribonucleotides, polysaccharides, and lipids (28). These proteins are therefore capable of binding a wide range of host molecules and pathogens. Sequencing revealed that SR genes could be further divided into different types based on the commonality of motifs or domains. The SRCR domain has been found in more than 25 different secreted and/or membrane-anchored proteins. Many SRCR proteins are expressed by leukocytes and are involved in the development of the immune system and in regulation of the immune response (28).
The domain that defines the SRCR family of proteins consists of 100 to 110 amino acid residues. Molecules with SRCR domains are further divided into two groups based on the location and number of cysteine residues. Members of group A have six cysteine residues, and those of group B have eight cysteine residues. CD163, which was originally identified as a specific differentiation protein of macrophages and monocytes, is now known to be a group B SRCR protein containing eight cysteine residues per domain (7).
CD163 is a type 1 membrane protein. The extracellular domain of CD163 consists of nine SRCR tandem repeats, followed by a transmembrane segment and an intracellular cytoplasmic tail. Several variants of CD163 with different cytoplasmic domains have been described and are the result of alternative splicing of the CD163 primary transcript. Expression of CD163 is low in undifferentiated cells (10) and generally increases following stimulation and activation of macrophages. Human CD163 lacking the transmembrane domain sheds into the bloodstream and exhibits cytokine-like functions (9, 19). One well-characterized function of CD163 involves scavenging of hemoglobin, which is mediated by endocytosis of haptoglobin-hemoglobin complexes (15).
SusCD163v1 is missing the entire first and second SRCR repeats, yet it still confers permissivity to PRRSV infection, indicating that these two domains are not required for binding of PRRSV. Of six Vero cell splice variants isolated, only the two that lack the hydrophobic transmembrane domain (Vero CD163v4 and v5) failed to function as PRRSV receptors when transfected into BHK-21 cells. This suggests that CD163 in the type 1 membrane protein configuration (the form that scavenges haptoglobin-hemoglobin complexes) is preferred over soluble forms as the active PRRSV receptor. All other CD163 cDNAs tested in this study, from human, pig, mouse, dog, or African green monkey (MARC-145 and Vero) cells, contained the transmembrane domain and functioned as PRRSV receptors. Among these are alternative splice patterns that encode cytoplasmic tails in different reading frames, as has been reported for human CD163 transcripts (24). Therefore, sequence variations within the cytoplasmic domain do not appear to determine PRRSV receptor function.
Sánchez-Torres et al. (27) reported that CD163 is involved in the uptake of another porcine virus, African swine fever virus (ASFV), and that expression of CD163 on porcine macrophages and/or monocytes correlates with susceptibility to ASFV. When CD163+ and CD163 cells were separated, susceptibility to ASFV was associated with the CD163+ cell population. The authors demonstrated an association between CD163 expression and ASFV infection but did not provide evidence that CD163 is capable of converting nonsusceptible cells to ASFV susceptibility. Our study is the first to firmly establish a role for CD163 in viral entry.
Given the strict tropism of PRRSV for pigs, it is somewhat unexpected that CD163 homologs from divergent mammalian species (human, monkey, dog, and mouse) can functionally replace porcine CD163 in several cell lines. It would appear that the species specificity of PRRSV infection might not be based on receptor binding alone but also on downstream cellular processes in the replication cycle. For example, canine DH82 cells support PRRSV internalization and gene expression but do not yield progeny virus, indicating a block in one or more late stages of viral replication (data not shown). Consistent with a role in the early stages of viral infection, CD163 cDNA from DH82 cells is sufficient to convert nonsusceptible BHK-21 cells to PRRSV susceptibility.
Our results do not exclude the possibility of an unidentified cofactor, which is present in some established CD163 cell lines (such as PK032495, NLFK, and BHK-21) but absent in some CD163+ cells (such as primary mouse peritoneal macrophages and differentiated human U937 cells). Hence, the presence of both CD163 and cofactor(s) may be required for efficient attachment, entry, and uncoating.
A previous study suggested that sialoadhesin is a binding factor that is capable of mediating attachment and internalization of PRRSV (32). It is possible that binding to sialoadhesin is a necessary first step in a pathway that also includes CD163, leading to uncoating and release of viral RNA into the cytoplasm. However, the PK-15 cell line used in that study did not express detectable levels of sialoadhesin (32). Our RT-PCR results further confirmed that sialoadhesin mRNA was not detectable in PK-15 or PK032495 cells under conditions that readily amplified sialoadhesin mRNA from PAMs. In spite of this, introduction of a CD163 gene into PK032495 cells was sufficient to render them fully permissive to PRRSV infection, arguing against a requirement for sialoadhesin in CD163-mediated initiation of infection. Additional studies are needed to identify possible cofactor(s) and to further dissect the interactions between CD163 and PRRSV.
Published ahead of print on 9 May 2007. ![]()
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