Akirin2 expression in response to vaccine-induced immunity in chicken

Quantitative phosphoproteomic analysis of chicken DF-1 cells infected with Eimeria tenella, using tandem mass tag (TMT) and parallel reaction monitoring (PRM) mass spectrometry

Eimeria tenella is an obligate intracellular parasite which causes great harm to the poultry breeding industry. Protein phosphorylation plays a vital role in host cell-E. tenella interactions. However, no comprehensive phosphoproteomic analyses of host cells at various phases of E. tenella infection have been published. In this study, quantitative phosphoproteomic analysis of chicken embryo DF-1 fibroblasts that were uninfected (UI) or infected with E. tenella for 6 h (PI6, the early invasion phase) or 36 h (PI36, the trophozoite development phase) was conducted. A total of 10,122 phosphopeptides matched to 3,398 host cell phosphoproteins were identified and 13,437 phosphorylation sites were identified. Of these, 491, 1,253, and 275 differentially expressed phosphorylated proteins were identified in the PI6/UI, PI36/UI, and PI36/PI6 comparisons, respectively. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis showed that E. tenella modulated host cell processes through phosphorylation, including focal adhesion, regulation of the actin cytoskeleton, and FoxO signaling to support its early invasion phase, and modulating adherens junctions and the ErbB signaling pathway to favor its trophozoite development. These results enrich the data on the interaction between E. tenella and host cells and facilitate a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying host-parasite relationships.

Circular RNA circAKIRIN2 participates in the process of stress-induced immunosuppression affecting immune response to infectious bursal disease virus vaccine in chicken

At present, stress-induced immunosuppression is still a hidden threat that leads to immunization failure and outbreaks of poultry diseases, and causes huge economic losses to the modern poultry industry. However, the molecular mechanisms of stress-induced immunosuppression affecting viral vaccine immunity are still poorly understood. Here, we identified circAKIRIN2 as a conserved circular transcript in chicken, and explored its expression patterns in different immune states by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), then conducted bioinformatics analysis. The results showed that circAKIRIN2 actively participated in the process of stress-induced immunosuppression affecting the immune response to infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) vaccine. The key time points for circAKIRIN2 involving in the process were 2 day post immunization (dpi), 5 dpi, and 28 dpi, especially at the acquired immune stage. The important tissues that responded to the process included the heart, liver, and lung, all of which changed significantly. In addition, circAKIRIN2 as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) sponging zinc finger and BTB domain containing 20 (ZBTB20) was a potential molecular mechanism for regulating immune functions in the process. In conclusion, circAKIRIN2 is a key regulatory factor for stress-induced immunosuppression affecting the IBDV vaccine immune response, and this study can provide a new perspective for exploring the molecular regulatory mechanisms of stress-induced immunosuppression affecting immune response.

Arih2 gene influences immune response and tissue development in chicken

Ariadne homolog 2 (ARIH2), as an E3 ubiquitin ligase, is one of the important factors involved in regulating biological functions, such as inflammation and skeletal muscle degeneration. In the present study, the full-length coding sequence of Arih2 gene was cloned from Hy-Line Brown chicken. The tissue transcriptional profiles of Arih2 gene at different developmental stages were detected using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), and the Arih2 functional characteristics in immune response were analyzed. The results showed that the full-length coding sequence of Arih2 gene was 1473 bp, encoding 490 amino acids, and conservative between different species. The Arih2 gene was transcribed in various tissues at different developmental stages, and its transcriptional activities varied significantly between multiple tissues. With the development of chicken, Arih2 gene was basically up-regulated in heart, liver, kidney, skeletal muscle and glandular stomach, but fluctuated significantly in large intestine. In immune response, the transcriptional activities of Arih2 gene exhibited significant changes in the bursa, thymus and blood (P<0.05). The results showed that Arih2 might be a multifunctional gene involved in tissue development and immune response in chicken, and have a potential possible application as diagnostic marker for identifying immune response.

Exploring the expression and preliminary function of chicken Gimap5 gene

GTPase immune-associated protein 5 (Gimap5) plays a key role in maintaining T cell homeostasis, immunological tolerance and inflammatory processes. However, there are no reports on the chicken Gimap5 gene. In this study, the Gimap5 gene was first cloned from chicken and characterized its tissue expression characteristics in different developmental stages. The transcriptional activities of the Gimap5 gene in immune response were identified. The results showed that full-length cDNA sequence of Gimap5 contained 771 bp and encoded a 256-amino acid protein. The Gimap5 gene was transcribed in various tissues and different development stages. The transcriptional activities of Gimap5 gene in the most tissues increased with the development of chicken, but significantly up to peak in liver and large intestine of 10-month-old chicken. The Gimap5 gene exhibited differential transcriptional activities in immune-related tissues in immune responses, with down-regulated in liver (P < 0.01), spleen (P < 0.05) and bursa of Fabricius (P < 0.05), and up-regulated in thymus (P < 0.01). The results show that Gimap5 may be a multifunctional gene involved in tissue function, development and immune response in chicken. These data can provide the foundation for further study of Gimap5.