Preliminary screening of intestinal barrier genes associated with porcine epidemic diarrhea virus infection in pigs

ABSTRACT To screen intestinal barrier genes associated with porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) infection, in the present study we first detected PEDV-infected piglets ( Sus scrofa ) with intestinal damage using quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) and hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining. Then, we used qPCR to identify expression differences of intestinal barrier genes between the PEDV-infected and control groups. The results showed that the expression levels of most genes were significantly different between the two groups. Hierarchical clustering and correlation analysis were performed for the expression levels of 25 candidate genes to reveal the key gene that may be involved in PEDV resistance. Two important candidate genes, GLP2 (glucagon–like peptide 2) and AQP3 (aquaporin 3), have their expression positively correlated (r = 0.84). We speculated that decreased expression of GLP2 and AQP3 might play an important role in the process of PEDV infection of piglets by reducing the expression of tight junction proteins and disrupting the junctions between intestinal epithelial cells. There may be an underlying biological interaction between the two genes, which together affect the functional integrity of the intestinal barrier.

摘要 为筛选与猪流行性腹泻病毒（porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, PEDV）感染相关的肠道屏障基因，本研究首先采用实时荧光定量聚合酶链式反应（quantitative real-time PCR, qPCR）与苏木精-伊红（hematoxylin and eosin, HE）染色法，对感染PEDV且伴肠道损伤的仔猪（*Sus scrofa*）进行检测。随后通过qPCR分析感染组与对照组仔猪的肠道屏障基因表达差异，结果显示两组间多数基因的表达水平存在显著差异。本研究对25个候选基因的表达量开展层次聚类分析与相关性分析，以挖掘可能参与PEDV抗性调控的关键基因。研究发现，两个重要候选基因——胰高血糖素样肽2（glucagon-like peptide 2, GLP2）与水通道蛋白3（aquaporin 3, AQP3）——的表达呈显著正相关（r=0.84）。我们推测，GLP2与AQP3的表达下调可能通过降低紧密连接蛋白表达、破坏肠上皮细胞间连接，在仔猪PEDV感染过程中发挥重要作用。二者之间可能存在潜在的生物学相互作用，共同影响肠道屏障的功能完整性。