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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Athens, Georgia » U.S. National Poultry Research Center » Exotic & Emerging Avian Viral Diseases Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #290134

Title: Genetic response and morphologic characterization of chicken bone-marrow derived dendritic cells during infection with high and low pathogenic avian influenza viruses

Author
item Kapczynski, Darrell
item JIANG, HAI JUN - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA)

Submitted to: American Association for Immunology
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/31/2013
Publication Date: 3/7/2013
Citation: Kapczynski, D.R., Jiang, H. 2013. Genetic response and morphologic characterization of chicken bone-marrow derived dendritic cells during infection with high and low pathogenic avian influenza viruses. American Association for Immunology. p.3555.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Dendritic cells (DC) are professional antigen-presenting cells of the immune system that function to initiate primary immune responses. Progenitors of DCs are derived from haematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow (BM) that migrate in non-lymphoid tissues to develop into immature DCs. Here, they are specialized at capturing and processing antigen for immune presentation. Infection of chickens with avian influenza (AI) can result in a wide range of clinical disease, depending if the virus is of low or high pathogenicity. Low pathogenic (LP) AI viruses typically induce mild clinical signs, whereas highly pathogenic (HP) AI can result in death within days. In these studies, chicken BM-DCs were co-cultured with HPAI and LPAI of H5 and H7 subtype to determine the innate immune response, effect on cell morphology, and examine viral growth. A strong proinflammatory response, including interleukin-1beta, and stimulation of the interferon response pathway was observed at 8 hours post infection. Microscopically, the DCs altered their appearance after AI infection to a rounded shape, and eventually died, most likely through apoptosis. Differences in onset of morphologic changes were observed between H5 and H7 AI subtypes. Increases in viral titers demonstrated that both pathotypes of AI could replicate in BM-DCs. The increased DC activation following infection may be indicative of dysregulation of the immune response typically seen with HPAI infection.