Nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) is involved in a wide range of innate immune activities in host cells and serves as an important component of a host's immunity system. To survive in infected cells, viruses have evolved intricate strategies to evade the host immune response. Pseudorabies virus (PRV) is a member of the alpha herpesvirus family and is capable of causing reproductive and neurological dysfunction in pigs. PRV has a large DNA genome and therefore has the ability to encode numerous proteins that modulate host innate immune responses. In the present study, we demonstrated that the PRV-encoded immediate early protein ICP0 inhibits the tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α)-mediated NF-κB signaling pathway. An in-depth study showed that ICP0 protein was able to limit NF-κB activation and decreased the expression of inflammatory cytokines interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin 8 (IL-8). In addition, ICP0 blocked the activation of NF-κB through interacting with p65, degrading its protein expression and limiting its phosphorylation. PRV protein ICP0 is shown for the first time to enable escape from innate immune response through the regulation of NF-κB during PRV infection. These results illustrate that PRV ICP0 is able to block NF-κB activation. This mechanism may represent a critical role in the early events leading to PRV infection.
Keywords: ICP0 protein; NF-κB signaling pathway; P65; pseudorabies virus.