Abstract
BackgroundThe molecular mechanisms underlying stress-influenced immune function of chicken (Gallus Gallus) are not clear. The stress models can be established effectively by feeding chickens corticosterone (CORT) hormone. The bursa of Fabricius is a unique central immune organ of birds. RNA-Seq technology was used to investigate differences in the expression profiles of immune-related genes and associated pathways in the bursa of Fabricius to clarify molecular mechanisms. The aim of this study was to broaden the understanding of the stress-influenced immune function in chickens.ResultsDifferentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the bursa of Fabricius between experimental group (basal diet with added CORT 30 mg/kg; C_B group) and control group (basal diet; B_B group) were identified by using RNA-seq technology. In total, we found 1434 significant DEGs (SDEGs), which included 199 upregulated and 1235 downregulated genes in the C_B group compared with the B_B group. The immune system process GO term was the top significantly GO term, including MYD88, TLR4, IL15, VEGFA gene and so on. The cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction pathway and the Toll-like receptor signaling pathway were the key pathways affected by stress. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis of the SDEGs showed that VEGFA, MyD88 and IL15 were hub genes and module analysis showed that MYD88, TLR4 and VEGFA play important roles in response to stress.ConclusionThis study showed that the VEGFA and ILs (such as IL15) via the cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction pathway, MYD88 and TLR4 via the Toll-like receptor signaling pathway may play important roles in the regulation of immune function under stress condition with CORT administration. The results of this study provide a reference for further studies of the molecular mechanisms of stress-influenced immune function.
Highlights
The molecular mechanisms underlying stress-influenced immune function of chicken (Gallus Gallus) are not clear
85.22 to 86.94% clean reads were aligned to the chicken genome (Gallus gallus 4.0), the multiple mapped reads ranged from 1.84 to 1.90%, and the uniquely mapped reads ranged from 83.32 to 85.04%
68.1 to 72.0% were mapped in annotated exons, 19.3 to 22.9% were mapped in the intergenic regions, and 8.3 to 9.0% were mapped in introns
Summary
The molecular mechanisms underlying stress-influenced immune function of chicken (Gallus Gallus) are not clear. The stress models can be established effectively by feeding chickens corticosterone (CORT) hormone. Stress is a physiological manifestation of the body’s defence against adverse environmental effects It is nonspecific responses of the body to adapt to the environment and maintain homeostatic equilibrium balance [1]. Corticosterone, which is secreted by the adrenal cortex and is the main glucocorticoid of birds, is involved in the stress response of the body; regulates the metabolism of carbohydrate [11], lipid [12] and protein [13, 14]; maintains the normal activities of various tissues and organs; has roles in anti-inflammatory and inhibition of immune function; and has reduced humoral and cellular immune functions [11, 15]. The establishment of the chicken stress model with exogenous CORT is theoretically based and is feasible [16]
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