A single nucleotide polymorphism of porcine MX2 gene provides antiviral activity against vesicular stomatitis virus.

The objective was to determine if single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in porcine MX2 gene affect its antiviral potential. MX proteins are known to suppress the multiplication of several viruses, including influenza virus and vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV). In domestic animals possessing highly polymorphic genome, our previous research indicated that a specific SNP in chicken Mx gene was responsible for its antiviral function. However, there still has been no information about SNPs in porcine MX2 gene. In this study, we first conducted polymorphism analysis in 17 pigs of MX2 gene derived from seven breeds. Consequently, a total of 30 SNPs, of which 11 were deduced to cause amino acid variations, were detected, suggesting that the porcine MX2 is very polymorphic. Next, we classified MX2 into eight alleles (A1-A8) and subsequently carried out infectious experiments with recombinant VSVΔG*-G to each allele. In A1-A5 and A8, position 514 amino acid (514 aa) of MX2 was glycine (Gly), which did not inhibit VSV multiplication, whereas in A6 and A7, 514 aa was arginine (Arg), which exhibited the antiviral ability against VSV. These results demonstrate that a SNP at 514 aa (Gly-Arg) of porcine MX2 plays a pivotal role in the antiviral activity as well as that at 631 aa of chicken Mx.