Abstract
Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is a causative agent of a highly contagious enteric disease in swine of all ages, leading to severe economic losses for the swine industry in many countries. One of the most effective approaches in controlling PEDV infection is vaccination. The ORF3 accessory protein has been proposed as a crucial viral virulence factor in a natural host. However, due to the lack of an extensive comparative study of ORF3, exactly how the ORF3 takes part in virus replication and pathogenesis as well as its role in host-virus interaction is unclear. In this review, we aim to discuss the current knowledge of ORF3 concerning its dispensability for viral replication in vitro, ability to modulate host responses, contribution to virus pathogenicity, and research gaps among ORF3 functional studies. These will be beneficial for further studies to a better understanding of PEDV biology and PEDV vaccine development.
Introduction
Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is an enteric pathogen that has spread in the swine population. PEDV infection causes severe watery diarrhea, dehydration, vomiting, and death, particularly in neonatal piglets, resulting in massive economic losses in pig industries worldwide, particularly in the United States, China, South Korea, and Thailand (–). According to the phylogenetic analysis, PEDV has been classified into two major groups, namely genotype 1 (G1) and genotype 2 (G2) (). The G1 group could be divided into two sub-genotypes: G1a and G1b. The classical PEDV strains CV777 and DR13 are the G1 representatives (). During the 1980-the 2000s, the G1a PEDV had caused outbreaks in Asia (). Despite its moderate virulence, vaccines against this diarrheal disease had been developed and used in many countries, including Japan, China, and South Korea (). The highly virulent G2 strain has emerged in China in 2010 and spread to many countries worldwide (, ), with the mortality rate in nursing piglets almost 100% (). Although various G1a-based vaccines have been used to control the outbreaks, their efficacy against these highly virulent strains is minimal (). Vaccines specifically designed for the G2 genotype are thus necessary to effectively control the ongoing PEDV epidemics.
Belonging to the genus Alphacoronavirus, PEDV is an enveloped virus bearing positive-sense single-stranded RNA of approximately 28 kb in length. The viral genome comprises at least seven open reading frames (Figure 1A) encoding two polyproteins, pp1a and pp1ab, which can be processed into 16 non-structural proteins (nsps), four structural proteins (spike, S; envelope, E; membrane, M and nucleocapsid, N), and only one accessory protein, the ORF3 (). For decades, numerous studies have been carried out to gain more insights into various aspects of PEDV, including basic virology, pathogenesis, immune responses and vaccine design. Despite the rapidly accumulating data of the coronavirus structural proteins, those related to the accessory proteins are relatively limited. It has been demonstrated that PEDV ORF3 participates in increased virus infection and lesion in the swine intestinal tract (, ). The defective PEDV ORF3 with deletion at a C-terminus acquired after virus adaptation in cell culture appeared to reduce virus virulence (, ). However, the evidence so far could not delineate how the ORF3 governs virus pathogenesis and virus replication in vitro and in vivo. Many questions remain unanswered and need comprehensive studies to understand the functions of this protein.
Figure 1
The Role of PEDV ORF3 in Virus Virulence
The PEDV ORF3 [675 nucleotides; 224 amino acids (aa)] is a viroporin, consisting of four transmembrane domains possessing a potassium ion channel activity (
Wild-type PEDV and cell culture adapted PEDV (ca-PEDV) have been shown to exert different degrees of disease severity in the infected hosts. Bernasconi et al. (
The Role of ORF3 in PEDV Replication in vitro
Despite its critical role in viral pathogenesis, ORF3 is dispensable for virus growth in vitro (
Table 1
| PEDV strain | ORF3 length (aa) | Cell line | Virus replication (in vitro) | Virus virulence (in vivo) | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attenuated DR13 | 207 | Vero | Higher virus titer than isolated virus | Reduced pathogenicity | ( |
| KPEDV-9 P93 | 207 | Vero | N/A | Reduced pathogenicity | ( |
| YN P1 | 224 | Vero | PEDV with truncated ORF3 had a higher virus titer than PEDV with FL ORF3. | N/A | ( |
| YN P15 | 144 | Virulent | |||
| YN P60 | 144 | N/A | |||
| YN P144 | 144 | Avirulent | |||
| BJ2011C | 224 | Vero | PEDV with truncated ORF3 had higher growth kinetics than PEDV with FL ORF3. | Highly virulent | ( |
| CHM2013 | 155 | Avirulent | |||
| BJ2011C (carrying S from CHM2013) | 224 | Reduced virulence | |||
| CHM2013 (carrying S from BJ2011C) | 155 | Reduced virulence | |||
| CHM2013 (carrying the structural-protein from BJ2011C) | 224 | Increased virulence | |||
| PC22A | 224 | Vero | PEDV with deleted ORF3 or FL ORF3 had a similar virus titer. | Highly virulent | ( |
| ΔORF3 PC22A | Absence | Reduced diarrheic scores | |||
| AVCT12 | absence | VeroE6-APN* | Only PEDV with deleted or truncated ORF3, but not FL ORF3, could be rescued by reverse genetics. | N/A | ( |
| AVCT12 | 207 (Δ82-98) | ||||
| AVCT12 | 224 | ||||
| Wild type PEDV CV777 | Knockdown ORF3 | Vero | Reduced number of viral RNA copies number | N/A | ( |
| AH2012/12 | 223 | Vero | Successful virus rescue | N/A | ( |
| AVCT12 AVCT12 | 224 207 (Δ82-98) | Vero-APN* | PEDV with deleted or truncated ORF3 had higher titers than PEDV with FL ORF3. | N/A | ( |
| AVCT12 | Absence | ||||
| Field strains Nakorn Phanom 2012 Field strains Nakorn Phanom 2012 | 207 224 | HEK293T | PEDV with truncated ORF3 had higher virus titers than PEDV with FL ORF3 | N/A | ( |
| Field strains Nakorn Phanom 2014 | 224 | ||||
| Field strains Ratchaburi 2014 | 207 | ||||
| Field strains Ratchaburi 2014 | 224 | ||||
| Attenuated DR13 | 91 (attenuated DR13) | Vero | PEDV with FL or truncated ORF3 had higher virus titers than PEDV with deleted ORF3. | N/A | ( |
| Attenuated DR13 | 224 (WT DR13) | ||||
| Attenuated DR13 | 224 (WT CV777) | ||||
| Attenuated DR13 | N/A (field strain NY) | ||||
| Attenuated DR13 | Absence | ||||
| Virulent strain CH/YNKM-8/2013 | 224 | Vero | PEDV with overexpressed ORF3 had higher virus copies (compared within the same strain) | N/A | ( |
| Attenuated strain CV777 | 91 | ||||
| Attenuated strain AH-M | 224 | ||||
| Virulent strain CH/YNKM-8/2013 | 224 | Vero-ORF3*** | PEDV with overexpressed ORF3 had higher virus copies (compared within the same strain) | N/A | ( |
| Attenuated strain AH-M | 91 | ||||
| Attenuated strain CV777 | 224 |
Summary of the effect of ORF3 variants on virus replication and virus virulence.
Vero cells stably express porcine aminopeptidase N (pAPN).
PEDV infectious clone was co-transfected with a plasmid expressing ORF3 variants in HEK293T, and the supernatant was harvested and adsorbed onto VeroE6-APN; the supernatant was collected for virus titration.
Vero cells stably express PEDV ORF3.
Thus far, the mechanism by which the ORF3 regulates PEDV replication in vitro has been suggested but not yet clearly defined. Wongthida et al. (
Despite its inhibitory effect against PEDV reverse genetics rescue, the ORF3 has been shown to enhance PEDV growth in some studies. For example, attenuated PEDV strains, AH-M (bearing truncated ORF3) and CV777 (bearing the full-length ORF3), were reported to grow more efficiently in Vero cells stably expressing ORF3 than those propagated in parental Vero cells (
Besides its direct role in PEDV replication, accumulating evidence has suggested that ORF3 might play a role in several cellular processes. It has been shown that ORF3 could regulate the cell cycle progression by prolonging the S phase (
In addition, deletion or truncation of the ORF3 acquired during propagation in cell culture has been used as a genetic marker to differentiate between the field and cell-adapted strains. However, the recombination of a highly pathogenic PEDV and a low pathogenic vaccine strain (
PEDV ORF3 and Host Interaction
Even though the underlying mechanisms of ORF3 functions related to pathogenicity, virus adaptation, and virus proliferation have not been elucidated, several lines of evidence have emphasized the impact of the interplay between ORF3 and the host's machinery. Microscopic inspection of cells over-expressing the ORF3 showed that the protein was typically localized in the cytoplasm (
A panel of intracellular sorting motif mutations located on the C-terminus of PEDV ORF3 revealed that the YLAI motif (residues 170–173; 170YLAI173) is essential for the translocation of ORF3 from the ER to the plasma membrane (
PEDV has been reported to induce apoptosis by activating mitochondrial apoptosis-inducing factors (40) and accelerating autophagy associated with inflammatory cytokine expression (41). Notably, ORF3 was also shown to localize in ER and trigger ER stress by increasing the expression level of GRP78 and activating the PERK-eIF2α signaling pathway and inducing autophagy in vitro (
The current data thus suggest that, besides being an ion channel or viroporin, ORF3 could interact with a large number of host's proteins as a means to manipulate cellular machinery to regulate virus replication and pathogenesis. Thus, characterization of specific amino acids or functional domains would be beneficial to precisely modify the PEDV ORF3 gene as a principle for vaccine design concerning virus cultivation and attenuation. A summary of the interaction of ORF3 and cellular proteins, based on current published data, is depicted in Figure 2.
Figure 2

PEDV ORF3 and host protein interaction. (A) ORF3 protein interacts with VPS36 leading to ORF3 degradation via proteasomal degradation pathway. (B) PEDV ORF3 induces the expression level of GRP78 and activates the PERK-eIF2α signaling pathway resulting in enhancing cell autophagy. (C) ORF3 inhibits NF-κB promoter activity and down-regulates IL-8 and TNF-α mRNA expression while (D) induces NF-κB promoter activity and reduces IFN-β production in the binding with an overexpressed-IKBKB. (E) ORF3 suppresses phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of NF-κB, resulting in reduced proinflammatory cytokines IL-6 and IL-8.
Prospects of ORF3 for PEDV Vaccine Design
Serial passages in host cells to obtain PEDV vaccine candidates often result in the loss or truncation of the ORF3 gene. For example, Chen et al. (
A reverse genetic system is a powerful tool for molecular studies and vaccine development. Given that ORF3 has been shown to have inhibitory effects on virus rescue, understanding its mechanism and region(s) of amino acid sequence responsible for this particular aspect can help overcome difficulties in PEDV isolation in vitro. As mentioned earlier, the presence of ORF3 in different forms can markedly influence PEDV virus rescue by reverse genetics and virus pathogenicity in the natural host. Extensive deletion of ORF3 might likely support efficient virus rescue and propagation in Vero cells. However, a high-growth virus with deleted ORF3 could poorly infect intestinal cells in vivo, affecting the virus's property to be used as an oral vaccine. Therefore, the strategy of ORF3 gene engineering for virus vaccine production should be considered to enable the virus to grow well in cell culture and, at the same time, to become less virulent but still maintaining its infectivity in intestinal cells.
Conclusions and Future Studies
ORF3 is a multi-functional protein that plays essential roles in modulating cellular mechanisms, particularly the host immune system and apoptosis. These roles of ORF3 are likely associated with virus replication and pathogenicity. Due to the lack of comprehensive studies of ORF3 and inconsistent findings of ORF3 among available literature, its impacts on virus adaptation in cell culture, virus replication, and pathogenesis are still not well-elucidated. Future studies utilizing various approaches are needed to gain more precise insights into our understanding of this protein. For example, a series of PEDV ORF3 mutations (variants) should be constructed together with the S protein to generate recombinant PEDVs to show the effect of each mutation in the virus phenotype. The impact of ORF3 variants on PEDV growth kinetics should be investigated in detail in vitro and in vivo. The mechanistic role of ORF3 in interferon signaling pathway/inflammasome activation could be further explored. Knowledge obtained from these studies would be a groundwork for viral gene mutagenesis to improve a better live-attenuated PEDV vaccine accomplishing high yield in cell culture with a minimum passaging, induction of specific immune response, and no reversion to virulence in the vaccinated animal.
Funding
This work was supported by National Vaccine Institute (NVI), Thailand, under grant number P2150344.
Publisher's Note
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Author contributions
All authors listed have made a substantial, direct and intellectual contribution to the work, and approved it for publication.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
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Summary
Keywords
PEDV, ORF3, virus replication, pathogenesis, virus and host interaction, vaccine development
Citation
Jantraphakorn Y, Viriyakitkosol R, Jongkaewwattana A and Kaewborisuth C (2021) Interaction Between PEDV and Its Hosts: A Closer Look at the ORF3 Accessory Protein. Front. Vet. Sci. 8:744276. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2021.744276
Received
20 July 2021
Accepted
19 August 2021
Published
10 September 2021
Volume
8 - 2021
Edited by
Levon Abrahamyan, Université de Montréal, Canada
Reviewed by
Bin Li, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences (JAAS), China; Li Mao, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences (JAAS), China
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© 2021 Jantraphakorn, Viriyakitkosol, Jongkaewwattana and Kaewborisuth.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Challika Kaewborisuth challika.kae@biotec.or.th
This article was submitted to Veterinary Infectious Diseases, a section of the journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science
Disclaimer
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.