RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: To elucidate the co-localization characteristic between porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) N protein and B23.1 phosphoprotein. METHODS: Two pairs of primers used to amplify N gene and B23.1 gene were designed and synthesized according to CV777 N gene sequence (AF353511) and human nucleolar phosphoprotein B23.1 gene sequence (BC050628.1), respectively. The PEDV N gene and B23.1 gene were amplified by RT-PCR from PEDV strain CV777 and Vero E6 cells, respectively; then cloned into eukaryotic expression vector pAcGFP1-C1 and pDsRed2-N1, to generate the recombinant plasmids pAcGFP1-C1/N and pDsRed2-N1/B23.1, respectively. Vero E6 cells were transfected with plasmids pAcGFP1-C1/N and pDsRed2-N1/B23.1. RESULTS: The fusion proteins successfully expressed in transfected Vero E6 cells by western blot analysis, and the PEDV N protein and the B23.1 phosphoprotein showed co-localization features in co-transfected cells through confocal microscopy analysis. CONCLUSION: The results will help to identify the nucleolar localization signals in PEDV N protein and to elucidate the mechanism of N protein located in nucleus.