Genetically modified pigs are protected from classical swine fever virus

PLoS Pathog. 2018 Dec 13;14(12):e1007193. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1007193. eCollection 2018 Dec.

Abstract

Classical swine fever (CSF) caused by classical swine fever virus (CSFV) is one of the most detrimental diseases, and leads to significant economic losses in the swine industry. Despite efforts by many government authorities to stamp out the disease from national pig populations, the disease remains widespread. Here, antiviral small hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) were selected and then inserted at the porcine Rosa26 (pRosa26) locus via a CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knock-in strategy. Finally, anti-CSFV transgenic (TG) pigs were produced by somatic nuclear transfer (SCNT). Notably, in vitro and in vivo viral challenge assays further demonstrated that these TG pigs could effectively limit the replication of CSFV and reduce CSFV-associated clinical signs and mortality, and disease resistance could be stably transmitted to the F1-generation. Altogether, our work demonstrated that RNA interference (RNAi) technology combining CRISPR/Cas9 technology offered the possibility to produce TG animal with improved resistance to viral infection. The use of these TG pigs can reduce CSF-related economic losses and this antiviral strategy may be useful for future antiviral research.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Animals, Genetically Modified
  • Antiviral Agents*
  • Classical Swine Fever / prevention & control*
  • Classical Swine Fever Virus
  • Genetic Engineering / methods*
  • Swine

Substances

  • Antiviral Agents

Grants and funding

This work was financially supported through a grant from the Special Funds for Cultivation and Breeding of New Transgenic Organisms (No. 2016ZX08006003), the Program for JLU Science and Technology Innovative Research Team (2017TD-28), the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University in China (No. IRT16R32) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the central Universities. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.