title: Induction of systemic IFITM3 expression does not effectively control foot-and-mouth disease viral infection in transgenic pigs.
abstract: Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagious disease of cloven-hoofed animals, and can cause severe economic loss. Interferon-induced transmembrane (IFITM) proteins constitute a family of viral restriction factors that can inhibit the replication of several types of viruses. Our previous study showed that overexpression of swine IFITM3 (sIFITM3) impeded replication of the FMD virus (FMDV) in BHK-21 cells and mice. In this study, sIFITM3-transgenic (TG) pigs were produced by handmade cloning. Results showed that sIFITM3 was highly overexpressed in many organs of sIFITM3-TG pigs compared to wild-type pigs. After a virulent FMDV strain (O/ES/2001) was intramuscularly inoculated, the sIFITM3-TG pigs showed slightly higher susceptibility to FMDV infection than wild-type pigs. Both groups displayed comparable degrees of clinical symptoms throughout the 14-day observation period. Therefore, the induction of systemic sIFITM3 expression does not protect pigs against FMDV infection. Based on these observations, we propose that a combination of interferons and vaccines be used to control FMDV infections and subsequent FMD outbreaks.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, China; Laboratory of Animal Virology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Huawei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, National Foot and Mouth Diseases Reference Laboratory, Key Laboratory of Animal Virology of Ministry of Agriculture, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, China.
authors.forename: Haixue
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, China; Laboratory of Animal Virology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, China; Laboratory of Animal Virology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Jinfang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, China; Laboratory of Animal Virology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Xi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, China; Laboratory of Animal Virology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, China; Laboratory of Animal Virology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Huanchun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, China; Laboratory of Animal Virology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, China. Electronic address: lixiangmin@mail.hzau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xiangmin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics / Q000821:virology*; D005536:Foot-and-Mouth Disease / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D029544:Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus / Q000502:physiology*; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D015533:Transcriptional Activation / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins
keywords: Foot-and-mouth disease virus; Swine IFITM3; Transgenic pigs