Cytotoxicity of ORF3 Proteins from a Nonpathogenic and a Pathogenic Porcine Circovirus

Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) infection is associated with significant and serious swine diseases worldwide, while PCV1 appears to be a nonpathogenic virus. Previous studies demonstrated that the ORF3 protein of PCV2 (PCV2ORF3) was involved in PCV2 pathogenesis via its proapoptotic capability (J. Liu, I. Chen, Q. Du, H. Chua, and J. Kwang, J. Virol. 80:5065-5073, 2006). If PCV2ORF3-induced apoptosis is a determinant of virulence, PCV1ORF3 is hypothesized to lack this ability. The properties of PCV1 and PCV2 ORF3, expressed as fusion proteins to an enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP), were characterized with regard to their ability to cause cellular morphological changes, detachment, death, and apoptosis. PCV1ORF3 significantly induced more apoptotic cell death and was toxic to more different cell types than PCV2ORF3 was. PCV1ORF3-associated cell death was caspase dependent. PCV1ORF3 also induced poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP) cleavage; however, whether PARP was involved in cell death requires further studies. Truncation of PCV1 and elongation of PCV2 ORF3 proteins revealed that the first 104 amino acids contain a domain capable of inducing cell death, whereas the C terminus of PCV1ORF3 contains a domain possibly responsible for enhancing cell death. These results suggest that the pathogenicity of PCV2 for pigs is either not determined or not solely determined by the ORF3 protein.Lymphocyte depletion and the presence of porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) genome and antigens (4, 6, 21) are hallmarks of PCV-associated disease (PCVAD), a wasting and immunosuppressive ailment of postweaned pigs. Despite two decades of research, little is known about the molecular pathogenesis of PCVAD.PCV2 is the smallest known autonomous vertebrate virus containing a 1.7-kb single-stranded, ambisense DNA genome (32). The virus has two major open reading frames (ORFs) that encode the replication proteins (Rep and Rep′) involved in the initiation of virus replication (17) and a capsid protein (Cap), forming the capsid of the virion (32). A third ORF encodes an ORF3 protein that has been characterized as an inducer of apoptosis (14). Abrogation of ORF3 expression attenuated PCV2 pathogenesis in BALB/c mice (13) and specific-pathogen-free piglets (9). This led to the hypothesis that ORF3 is involved in PCV2 pathogenesis by inducing apoptosis in infected lymphocytes, leading to lymphocyte depletion and ultimately immunosuppression (13, 25). The closely related, yet nonpathogenic porcine circovirus type 1 (PCV1) also has a third open reading frame, but the properties of the ORF3 protein of PCV1 (PCV1ORF3) have not been characterized. Analysis of over 250 PCV2 variants and 30 PCV1 variants shows a consistent single-nucleotide substitution in the ORF3 coding sequence of PCV2 (PCV2ORF3), resulting in a stop codon and a protein that is half the size of PCV1ORF3 (PCV2ORF3 is made up of 104 amino acids [aa] compared to PCV1ORF3, which is made up of 206 aa). A comparison between PCV1 and PCV2 ORF3 translated regions reveals only 60% amino acid sequence identity (5), making ORF3 the most variable protein among the three identified major proteins of PCV. If ORF3 is a determinant of virulence of PCV2 via its apoptotic capability, PCV1ORF3 is hypothesized to lack the ability to induce apoptotic cell death. This report demonstrates the differences in cytotoxic properties between PCV1ORF3 and PCV2ORF3. Interestingly, PCV1ORF3 appeared to be more cytotoxic than PCV2ORF3, activating a caspase-dependent apoptotic pathway and potentially a caspase-independent, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP) cleavage pathway. Further analysis of truncated PCV1ORF3 and elongated PCV2ORF3 showed that different ORF3 proteins had similar patterns of cytotoxicity, although full-length PCV1ORF3 was the most potent inducer of cell death.