Laboratory of Physiology of Reproduction of Farm Animals, Department of Animal Production, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Vet Res Commun. 2010 Jun;34(5):459-71. doi: 10.1007/s11259-010-9420-3. Epub 2010 Jun 8.
In recent years host antimicrobial peptides and proteins have been recognised as key mediators of the innate immune response in many vertebrate species, providing the first line of defense against potential pathogens. In chickens a number of cationic antimicrobial peptides have been recently identified. However, although these peptides have been studied extensively in the avian gastrointestinal tract, little is known about their function in the chicken reproductive organs and embryos. Chicken Liver Expressed Antimicrobial Peptide-2 (cLEAP-2) has been previously reported to function in protecting birds against microbial attack. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of cLEAP-2 gene in the chicken reproductive organs, as well as in chicken embryos during embryonic development, and to determine whether cLEAP-2 expression in the chicken reproductive organs was constitutive or induced as a response to Salmonella enteritidis infection. RNA was extracted from ovary, oviduct, testis and epididymis of sexually mature healthy and Salmonella infected birds, as well as from chicken embryos until day ten of embryonic development. Expression analysis data revealed that cLEAP-2 was expressed in the chicken ovary, testis and epididymis as well as in embryos during early embryonic development. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis revealed that cLEAP-2 expression was constitutive in the chicken epididymis, but was significantly up regulated in the chicken gonads, following Salmonella infection. In addition, expression of cLEAP-2 during chicken embryogenesis appeared to be developmentally regulated. These data provide evidence to suggest a key role of cLEAP-2 in the protection of the chicken reproductive organs and the developing embryos from Salmonella colonization.
近年来，宿主抗菌肽和蛋白质已被认为是许多脊椎动物物种固有免疫反应的关键介质，为潜在病原体提供了第一道防线。在鸡中，最近已经鉴定出许多阳离子抗菌肽。然而，尽管这些肽在禽类胃肠道中得到了广泛研究，但对其在鸡生殖器官和胚胎中的功能知之甚少。鸡肝表达抗菌肽-2（cLEAP-2）以前被报道在保护鸟类免受微生物攻击方面起作用。本研究旨在研究 cLEAP-2 基因在鸡生殖器官中的表达，以及在鸡胚胎发育过程中的表达，并确定鸡生殖器官中的 cLEAP-2 表达是组成型的还是作为对肠炎沙门氏菌感染的反应而诱导的。从性成熟健康和肠炎沙门氏菌感染鸟类的卵巢、输卵管、睾丸和附睾以及鸡胚胎中提取 RNA，直到胚胎发育的第 10 天。表达分析数据显示，cLEAP-2 在鸡的卵巢、睾丸和附睾以及早期胚胎发育过程中的胚胎中表达。定量实时 PCR 分析显示，cLEAP-2 在鸡附睾中的表达是组成型的，但在肠炎沙门氏菌感染后，在鸡性腺中的表达显著上调。此外，cLEAP-2 在鸡胚胎发生过程中的表达似乎受到发育调控。这些数据提供了证据表明 cLEAP-2 在保护鸡生殖器官和发育中的胚胎免受沙门氏菌定植方面起着关键作用。
