Pathogenicity and genetic characteristics associated with cell adaptation of a virulent porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus nsp2 DEL strain CA-2

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is the most common and world-widespread viral pathogen of swine. We previously reported genomic sequences and pathogenicity of type 2 Korean PRRSV strains belonging to the virulent lineage 1 family, which contain remarkable amino acid deletions in nonstructural protein 2 (nsp2 DEL) compared to VR-2332. Here, a virulent type 2 Korean PRRSV nsp2 DEL strain, CA-2, was serially propagated in MARC-145 cells for up to 100 passages (CA-2-P100). As the passage number increased, the phenotypic characteristics of cell-adapted CA-2 strains were altered, in terms of higher viral titers and larger plaque sizes compared to the parental virus. Pro-inflammatory cytokine genes, including TNF-α, IL-8, MCP-1, and MCP-2, were found to be significantly down-regulated in PAM cells with the CA-2-P100 strain compared to its parental nsp2 DEL virus. Animal inoculation studies demonstrated that the virulence of CA-2-P100 was reduced significantly, with showing normal weight gain, body temperatures, and lung lesions comparable to the control group. Furthermore, high-passage CA-2-P100 showed declined and transient viremia kinetics, as well as delayed and low PRRSV-specific antibody responses in infected pigs. In addition, we determined whole genome sequences of low to high-passage derivatives of CA-2. The nsp2 DEL pattern was conserved for 100 passages, whereas no other deletions or insertions arose during the cell adaptation process. However, CA-2-P100 possessed 54 random nucleotide substitutions that resulted in 27 amino acid changes distributed throughout the genome, suggesting that these genetic drifts provide a possible molecular basis correlated with the cell-adapted features in vitro and the attenuated phenotype in vivo. Taken together, our data indicate that the cell-attenuated CA-2-P100 strain is a promising candidate for developing a safe and effective live PRRSV vaccine.