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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Animal Biosciences & Biotechnology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #312928
Title: Down-regulation of chicken interleukin-17 receptor A in Eimeria infection

Author
item KIM, WOO - Gyeongsang National University
item JEONG, JIPSEOL - Gyeongsang National University
item PARK, AE - Gyeongsang National University
item YIM, DONGJEAN - Gyeongsang National University
item KIM, SUK - Gyeongsang National University
item CHANG, HONG - Gyeongsang National University
item YANG, SEUNG HAK - National Institute Of Animal Science
item Lillehoj, Hyun
item MIN, WONG - Gyeongsang National University

Submitted to: Infection and Immunity
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/24/2014
Publication Date: 9/30/2014
Publication URL: http://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/61047
Citation: Kim, W.H., Jeong, J., Park, A.R., Yim, D., Kim, S., Chang, H.H., Yang, S., Lillehoj, H.S., Min, W. 2014. Down-regulation of chicken interleukin-17 receptor A in Eimeria infection. Infection and Immunity. 82(9):3845-3854.

Interpretive Summary: Lack of understanding poultry immune function hinders progress in disease and vaccine research. Chicken immune system is complex and the immune response of the host to diseas causing organisms (pathogens) involves complex interactions of a cell that are mediated by specific proteins called cytokines. Among these are pro-inflammatory proteins which mediate inflammatory response to pathogens. In order to better characterize cytokine response to enteric parasitic infections, ARS scientists collaborated with scientists at a Korean university to develop immune reagents that can detect various different cytokine proteins. Using these reagents, they found that one specific cytokine called IL-17 is produced during infection with an enteric parasite and is involved in local inflammatory response. Furthermore, they found that parasites seem to modulate the expression of interaction between IL-17 and its receptor. Although the underlying mechanism on how this modulation of host protein by parasitic infection affects host disease outcome, the results of this study showed their close interaction for the first time. Since intestinal parasitic infection such as coccidiosis is economically important to the world poultry industry, understanding the role of various cytokines in coccidiosis will enhance our ability to better control and prevent coccidiosis which cost poultry industry over $3 billion annual loss.

Technical Abstract: Both IL-17A and IL-17F are proinflammatory cytokines, which play an important role in intestinal homeostasis through their receptor signaling. In chickens, these two cytokines have been recently characterized, but to date, very little is known about their receptors and their functional activity. This article describes sequence analysis and bioactivity of chicken IL-17RA (chIL-17RA). In addition, comparative expression analysis of chIL-17RA is investigated for the first time in chickens infected with Salmonella and Eimeria, two causative agents of distinct gastrointestinal diseases. A full-length chIL-17RA cDNA with a 2,568-bp coding region was identified from chicken thymus cDNA. chIL-17RA shares approximately 46% identity with mammalian homologues, and 29.2-31.5% identity with fiscine counterparts. chIL-17RA transcript expression was relatively high in thymus and chicken macrophage cell line HD11. The chIL-17RA-specific siRNA, inhibits IL-6, IL-8 and IL-1' mRNA expression in CEF cells, but not in DF-1 cells, stimulated with chIL-17A or chIL-17F. Furthermore, interaction between chIL-17RA and chIL-17A was confirmed by co-immunoprecipitation. Downregulation of chIL-17RA was seen in ConA or LPS-activated splenic lymphocytes, but not in poly I:C-activated splenic lymphocytes. In Salmonella- and Eimeria-infected chickens, expression levels of chIL-17RA transcript were down-regulated in intestinal tissues of chickens infected with two different Eimeria species, E. tenella and E. maxima that preferentially infect the cecum and jejunum, respectively. However, chIL-17RA expression was generally unchnaged in Salmonella infection. These results suggest that chIL-17RA plays an important role in mucosal immunity to intestinal intracellular parasites such as Eimeria.