Transgenic shRNA pigs reduce susceptibility to foot and mouth disease virus infection

Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) is an economically devastating viral disease leading to a substantial loss to the swine industry worldwide. A novel alternative strategy is to develop pigs that are genetically resistant to infection. Here, we produce transgenic (TG) pigs that constitutively expre...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:eLife
Main Authors: Shengwei Hu, Jun Qiao, Qiang Fu, Chuangfu Chen, Wei Ni, Sai Wujiafu, Shiwei Ma, Hui Zhang, Jingliang Sheng, Pengyan Wang, Dawei Wang, Jiong Huang, Lijuan Cao, Hongsheng Ouyang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: eLife Sciences Publications Ltd 2015-06-01
Subjects:
FMDV
transgenic pig
RNAi
Online Access:https://elifesciences.org/articles/06951
Description
Summary:Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) is an economically devastating viral disease leading to a substantial loss to the swine industry worldwide. A novel alternative strategy is to develop pigs that are genetically resistant to infection. Here, we produce transgenic (TG) pigs that constitutively expressed FMDV-specific short interfering RNA (siRNA) derived from small hairpin RNA (shRNA). In vitro challenge of TG fibroblasts showed the shRNA suppressed viral growth. TG and non-TG pigs were challenged by intramuscular injection with 100 LD50 of FMDV. High fever, severe clinical signs of foot-and-mouth disease and typical histopathological changes were observed in all of the non-TG pigs but in none of the high-siRNA pigs. Our results show that TG shRNA can provide a viable tool for producing animals with enhanced resistance to FMDV.
ISSN:2050-084X

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