title: Porcine circovirus type 2 replication is impaired by inhibition of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathway.
abstract: Postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome, which is primarily caused by porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2), is an emerging and important swine disease. We have recently shown that PCV2 induces nuclear factor kappa B activation and its activation is required for active replication, but the other cellular factors involved in PCV2 replication are not well defined. The extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) which served as an important component of cellular signal transduction pathways has been shown to regulate many viral infections. In this report, we show that PCV2 activates ERK1/2 in PCV2-infected PK15 cells dependent on viral replication. The PCV2-induced ERK1/2 leads to phosphorylation of the ternary complex factor Elk-1, which kinetically paralleled ERK1/2 activation. Inhibition of ERK activation with U0126, a specific MEK1/2 inhibitor, significantly reduced viral progeny release. Investigations into the mechanism of ERK1/2 regulation revealed that inhibition of ERK activation leads to decreased viral transcription and lower virus protein expression. These data indicate that the ERK signaling pathway is involved in PCV2 infection and beneficial to PCV2 replication in the cultured cells.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Beijing Municipal Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, No.9 Shuguang Garden Central Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100097, the People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Jue
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002070:Butadienes / Q000494:pharmacology; D002460:Cell Line; D017925:Circovirus / Q000502:physiology*; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D048049:Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D009570:Nitriles / Q000494:pharmacology; D010766:Phosphorylation; D013552:Swine; D014779:Virus Replication; D050807:ets-Domain Protein Elk-1 / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D002070:Butadienes; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D009570:Nitriles; C113580:U 0126; D050807:ets-Domain Protein Elk-1; D048049:Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases