Abstract
Although research related to avian leukosis virus subgroup J (ALV-J) has lasted for more than a century, the systematic identification of host immune key factors against ALV-J infection has not been reported. In this study, we establish an infection model in which four-week-old SPF chickens are infected with ALV-J strain CHN06, after which the host immune response is detected. We found that the expression of two antiviral interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) (Mx1 and IFIT5) were increased in ALV-J infected peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL). A significant CD8+ T cell response induced by ALV-J appeared as early as seven days post-infection (DPI), and humoral immunity starting from 21 DPI differed greatly in the time scale of induction level. Meanwhile, the ALV-J viremia was significantly decreased before antibody production at 14 DPI, and eliminated at 21 DPI under a very low antibody level. The up-regulated CD8+ T cell in the thymus (14DPI) and PBL (7 DPI and 21 DPI) was detected, indicating that the thymus may provide the output of CD8+ T cell to PBL, which was related to virus clearance. Besides, up-regulated chemokine CXCLi1 at 7 DPI in PBL was observed, which may be related to the migration of the CD8+ T cell from the thymus to PBL. More importantly, the CD8 high+ T cell response of the CD8αβ phenotype may produce granzyme K, NK lysin, or IFN-γ for clearing viruses. These findings provide novel insights and direction for developing effective ALV-J vaccines.
Highlights
The avian leukosis virus subgroup J (ALV-J) has caused severe economic losses in the poultry industry worldwide due to its great pathogenicity and transmission ability [1]
Four-week-old SPF chickens were infected with ALV-J for 63 days, and the ALV-J shedding, ALV-J
ALV-J can integrate into the host genome, causing tumor disease and inducing immunological tolerance mainly via the vertical transmission, which makes it very hard to eliminate and control
Summary
The avian leukosis virus subgroup J (ALV-J) has caused severe economic losses in the poultry industry worldwide due to its great pathogenicity and transmission ability [1]. The big project, ALV eradication, has become a major measure for the prevention and control of ALV-J, which is funds-, manpower-, and technology-dependent Factors such as the fluctuation of reproductive hormones would influence the efficiency of eradication via inducing ALV-J viremia disappearance in positively infected chickens [2]. Some researchers are still devoted to developing various vaccines, such as subunit vaccines, by using the gp protein of ALV-J, multi-epitope subunit vaccine, and chimeric multi-epitope-based DNA vaccine [3,4,5,6]. None of these vaccines are commercial or applied in chicken farms. A full understanding of the ALV-induced adaptive immune
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