Cellular protein profiles altered by PRRSV infection of porcine monocytes-derived dendritic cells

Abstract Dendritic cells (DCs) are potent antigen-presenting cells (APCs) that play an important role in inducing primary antigen-specific immune responses. Some viruses have evolved to specifically target DCs to circumvent the host immune responses for their persistence in the host. One example is porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) that causes a persistent infection in pigs through modulating DC-mediated antiviral response. To study the cellular protein responses in PRRSV-infected monocyte-derived dendritic cells (MoDCs), two-dimensional liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry coupled with isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ) labeling was employed to quantitatively identify the differentially expressed proteins in PRRSV-infected MoDCs and the control cells. A total of 252 cellular proteins in MoDCs that were significantly altered at different time periods post-infection were identified. Differentially expressed proteins that are involved in the endocytosis pathway, actin cytoskeleton network, antigen processing and presentation, JAK-STAT signaling pathway and PRRSV receptors were identified and further analyzed. Among them, the expression changes of STAT1, Mx1, PICALM and SLA-DR were further verified by Western blotting. The protein profiles associated with PRRSV infection of MoDCs should offer novel insights to further investigation of PRRSV-mediated antiviral evasion mechanism and its pathobiology in swine.