ARS | Publication request: Characterization of porcine CD205

Submitted to: Developmental and Comparative Immunology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: February 18, 2010
Publication Date: March 15, 2010
Citation: Flores-Mendoza, L., Sotelo-Mundo, R.R., Dawson, H.D., Mwangi, W., Hernandez, J. 2010. Characterization of porcine CD205. Developmental and Comparative Immunology. 34(7):715-721.

Interpretive Summary: Dendritic cells (DCs) are cells distributed throughout the body that play a key role in immune response against bacteria, viruses, and protozoa, and cancer cells. DCs from pigs are generally closer in type and function to human DCs than are rodent cells; however, the characterization of pig DCs is incomplete due to lack of specific information used to characterize these cells in other species. We describe the characterization of pig CD205, an important DC genetic marker. The results showed that the pig gene CD205 is closer to human in structure than is mouse CD205. In terms of pig cells which demonstrate the formation of CD205 through the activity of the gene, the thymus had the largest content, followed by cells from the mesenteric and inguinal lymphoid nodes. The protein sequence for CD205 was used to make antibodies against pig CD205. These antibodies can be used to evaluate DC function and activity and aid in the development of contemporary strategies to study DCs in swine. These results will contribute to modeling the effects of diet on immune function in swine and humans.

Technical Abstract: Dendritic cells (DC) express a cell-surface receptor, CD205, that plays a role in antigen capture and delivery to the endocytic pathway. Besides DCs, high CD205 expression is also detected on thymic epithelial cells, but B cells, macrophages, and T cells have limited or no expression. CD205 has been characterized in several animal species but not swine. The aim of this work was to characterize porcine CD205 and mRNA expression on different cells and tissues involved in immune responses. A complete porcine CD205 sequence of 5175 bp was obtained from porcine thymus cDNA by PCR gene-walking strategy and this gene encoded a protein of 1723 amino acids. The multi-domain structure reported for murine, human, and bovine CD205 was also conserved in porcine with an overall amino acid identity of 74%, 81%, and 85%, respectively. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis of the CD205 mRNA profiles in normal porcine tissues and cells showed that thymus and Langerhans cells expressed the highest levels. Further characterization of porcine CD205 will lead to better understanding of the role of this receptor and development of contemporary strategies for antigen targeting to DCs in swine.