Autophagy during early stages contributes to bovine viral diarrhea virus replication in MDBK cells

Autophagy (or autophagocytosis) is an essential and precise control process by which cells degrade unnecessary or dysfunctional cellular components or organelles in the cytoplasm in response to nutrient depletion, exogenous pathogens, or other stimuli. This process results in the removal of damaged or surplus organelles and macromolecular complexes via a lysosome-dependent mechanism. Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) is a ssRNA virus of the Flaviviridae family (genus Pestivirus). BVDV infection results in major economic losses due to poor reproductive performance and poor calf performance in cattle herds. In our previous studies, we have shown that BVDV NADL infection significantly increases autophagy in MDBK cells. To further define the interactions between autophagy and BVDV infection, we investigated the effects of autophagy on the replication of BVDV NADL. The findings showed that autophagy was inhibited by treatment with 3-methyladenine (3-MA) or wortmannin and that the knockdown of LC3 and Beclin1 using lentivirus-mediated RNA interference (RNAi) suppressed BVDV NADL replication. In contrast, the findings showed the replication of BVDV NADL was significantly increased by treatment with the autophagy inducer rapamycin within 18 h post-infection (pi). However, the mRNA levels of BVDV NADL 5'UTRs showed a downward trend after 18 h pi, and this effect was reversed by chloroquine treatment. Therefore, we inferred that infection with BVDV NADL increases autophagy, which in turn favors BVDV NADL replication at early stages.