Molecular Characterization of Transcriptome-wide Interactions between Highly Pathogenic Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus and Porcine Alveolar Macrophages in vivo

Zhou, Ping; Zhai, Shanli; Zhou, Xiang; Lin, Ping; Jiang, Tengfei; Hu, Xueying; Jiang, Yunbo; Wu, Bin; Zhang, Qingde; Xu, Xuewen; Li, Jin-ping; Liu, Bang

All animal procedures were performed according to protocols approved by the Biological Studies Animal Care and Use Committee of Hubei Province, China. Piglets used in this study were free from PRRSV, pseudorabies virus (PRV) and porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) determined by ELISA test for serum antibodies. Twelve 5-week-old Tongcheng boars (a Chinese indigenous breed) were obtained from three litters (four piglets per litter), and raised in pathogen-free facilities. To perform a paired experiment, individuals within a full-sib litter were separated into two groups: one infected group and one control group with 6 piglets in each group. The infected groups were challenged with PRRSV-WUH3 (3 ml/15 kg, 10 -5 TCID50/ml) by intramuscular inoculation. Slaughters were carried out at 0 day post-infection (dpi) for uninfected (control) groups, and at 5 or 7 dpi for infected groups. Rectal temperature and clinical signs were recorded daily during the experiment. The serum samples for viremia detection were collected daily from all animals (one ml blood per sampling point). The PAMs for microarray analysis were collected by bronchoalveolar lavage from three uninfected pigs and three infected pigs at 5 dpi.