The carboxyl terminus (CT) of the PCV2 capsid protein (Cap) is critical to VLP assembly, cell entry, and propagation.

The capsid protein (Cap) is the sole structural protein and the main antigen of porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2). Structural loops of the Cap play crucial roles in viral genome packaging, capsid assembly and virus-host interactions. Although the molecular mechanisms are yet unknown, the C-terminus (CT) of the PCV2 Cap is known to play critical roles in the evolution, pathogenesis and proliferation of this virus. In this study, we investigated functions of CT. Removal of this loop leads to abrogation of the in vitro Cap self-assembly into virus-like particles (VLPs). Likewise, the mutated virus resists rescue from PK15 cell culture. A conserved PXXP motif in the CT is dispensable for VLP assembly and subsequent cell entry. However, its removal leads to the subsequent failure of virus rescued from PK15 cells. Furthermore, substituting either the PCV1 counterpart or an AXXA for the PXXP motif still supports virus rescue from cell culture, but results in a dramatic decrease in viral titers compared to wild type. In particular, a strictly conserved residue ((227)K) in the CT is essential for VLPs entry into PK15 cells and its mutation to alanine greatly attenuates cell entry of the VLPs, supporting a mechanism for the failure to rescue a mutated PCV2 infectious DNA clone (K227A) from PK15 cell culture. These results suggest the CT of the PCV2 Cap play critical roles in virus assembly, viral-host cell interaction(s) and virus propagation in vitro.Importance:The carboxy-terminus (CT) of PCV2 capsid protein (Cap) was previously reported to be associated with immunorecognition, alterations of viral titer in swine sera, and pathogenicity. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying these effects remain unknown. In this study, roles of the critical residues and motifs of the CT are investigated with respect to VLP assembly, cell entry and viral proliferation. The results revealed that the positively charged (227)K of the CT is essential for both cell entry of PCV2 VLPs and virus proliferation. Our findings, therefore, suggest that the CT should be considered as one of the key epitopes, recognized by neutralizing antibodies, for vaccine design and a target for drug development to prevent PCV2-associated diseases (PCVAD). Furthermore, it is important to respect the function of (227)K for its role in cell entry if employing either PCV2 VLPs for nanoscale DNA/drug cell delivery or the use of PCV2 VLPs to display a variety of foreign epitopes for immunization.