Integrin αvβ3 enhances replication of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus on Vero E6 and porcine intestinal epithelial cells

The entry mechanism of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) remains unclear, especially the virus receptor. Our previous study revealed a potential correlation between integrin αvβ3 and PEDV infection. In the current study, the effect of overexpression, silencing, antibody inhibition, and co-expression with porcine aminopeptidase N (pAPN) of integrin αvβ3 on PEDV infection was investigated and analyzed in African green monkey Vero E6 cells and porcine intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) using the classical strain CV777 and variant strain HM2017 of PEDV. Integrin αvβ3 significantly enhanced the replication of the classical and variant strains of PEDV in Vero E6 cells and IECs. The integrin αv and β3 subunits were both involved in the enhancement of PEDV infection, the Arg–Gly–Asp peptides targeting integrin αvβ3 significantly inhibited replication of PEDV in Vero E6 cells, and co-expression of integrin αvβ3 with pAPN significantly enhanced replication of PEDV in Vero E6 and BHK-21 cells. These results demonstrate that integrin αvβ3 enhances PEDV replication in Vero E6 cells and IECs. These data provide novel insights into the entry mechanism of PEDV.