Host restriction factor Rab11a limits Porcine deltacoronavirus invasion of cells via fusion peptide-mediated membrane fusion

Porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) poses a serious threat to pork industry and has the potential for cross-species transmission. Yet, the invasion mechanisms and host factors involved are still unknown. In the present work, using siRNA interference and co-immunoprecipitation, we identified Annexin A2 (ANXA2), Prohibitin-2 (PHB2), or Caveolin-2 (CAV2) as host factors positively regulating the internalization of PDCoV. We further found that Rab11a co-localized with PDCoV S and inhibited PDCoV internalization. Subsequently, a pseudoviral infection model (LV-PDCoV S-GFP) was constructed, and ANXA2 or CAV2 promoted PDCoV invasion by downregulating Rab11a. Our results also indicated that ANXA2, CAV2, and Rab11a interact with the S protein via S-FP, thereby regulating virus-host membrane fusion. Through LV-PDCoV S-GFP infection, we found that Rab11a may act as a host restriction factor, and it could regulate the invasion efficiency of PDCoV by adding of exogenous GTP. These findings revealed that Rab11a was an exciting target to restrict fusion of PDCoV with host cell membranes.

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