Porcine circovirus 2 proliferation can be enhanced by stably expressing porcine IL-2 gene in PK-15 cell

Porcine circovirus 2 (PCV2) is the causative agent of porcine circovirus diseases and porcine circovirus-associated diseases (PCVD/PCVAD), which are widely present in every major swine farm. However, lower propagation rate of PCV2 in vitro seriously hindered the production of PCV2 vaccine. Previously, we found that interleukin-2 (IL-2) can increase PCV2 yield in vitro. In the present study, porcine IL-2 gene was amplified and stably transfected into PK-15 cells. The results demonstrated that PCV2 proliferation can be significantly enhanced in cells stably expressing porcine IL-2 gene, suggesting that porcine IL-2 contributes to proliferation of PCV2. These results indicated that cells overexpressing porcine IL-2 gene can be used as a promising cell line for vaccine development of PCV2.