Molecular cloning and functional characterization of porcine cyclic GMP–AMP synthase

• Porcine cGAS mRNA is predominantly expressed in the spleen, duodenum, jejunum, and ileum.
• Porcine cGAS localizes not only in the cytosol, but also on the ER membrane.
• Overexpression of porcine cGAS stimulates IFN-β expression.
• Porcine cGAS-induced IFN-β expression is dependent on STING and IRF3.
• Porcine cGAS is involved in PRV- and poly(dA:dT)-induced IFN-β expression.

Cyclic GMP–AMP synthase (cGAS), which belongs to the nucleotidyltransferase family, recognizes cytosolic DNA and induces the type I interferon (IFN) pathway through the synthesis of the second messenger cGAMP. In this study, porcine cGAS (p-cGAS) was identified and its tissue distribution, subcellular localization, and functions in innate immunity were characterized. The coding sequence of p-cGAS is 1494 bp long, encodes 497 amino acids, and is most similar (74%) to Bos taurus cGAS. p-cGAS mRNA is abundant in the spleen, duodenum, jejunum, and ileum. The subcellular distribution of p-cGAS is not only in the cytosol, but also on the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane. The overexpression of wild-type p-cGAS in porcine kidney epithelial cells, but not its catalytically inactive mutants, induced IFN-β expression, which was dependent on STING and IRF3. However, the downregulation of p-cGAS by RNA interference markedly reduced IFN-β expression after pseudorabies virus (PRV) infection or poly(dA:dT) transfection. These results demonstrate that p-cGAS is an important DNA sensor, required for IFN-β activation.