Preliminary study on human embryonic kidney cell line HEK-293 after porcine endogenous retrovirus infection / 中华病理学杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To assess the infectivity of porcine endogenous retrovirus (PERV) via in vitro infection of human embryonic kidney cell line HEK-293.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>PERV particles were detected by immunoelectron microscopy. PERV DNA and mRNA were studied in HEK-293 24 hours after the infection using polymerase chain reaction and reverse transcriptase-PCR respectively. The PERV types were also analyzed. PERV-gag protein was observed by confocal microscopy.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Retroviral particles were round under electron microscope. PERV-gag pol gene and gag protein were detected and expressed in the infected HEK-293 cells. The types of PERV were PERV-A and PERV-B. PERV-gag protein was also identified in the cytoplasm of infected cells by confocal microscopy.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>PERV is able to infect HEK-293 cell line in vitro; types of PERV-gag protein is also expressed as a result. Further studies are thus necessary in order to evaluate the possibility of xenozoonoses in pig-to-human xenotransplantation.</p>