Laboratory of Physiology of Reproduction of Farm Animals, Department of Animal Production, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece.
Anim Reprod Sci. 2011 Feb;123(3-4):234-41. doi: 10.1016/j.anireprosci.2011.01.010. Epub 2011 Jan 14.
Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are a critical component of the innate immune response in many vertebrates, including avian species. The recent findings of chicken TLRs (cTLRs) expression in ovarian follicles and in the chicken ovary in vivo, as well as the changes in their expression in response to lipopolysaccharide or Salmonella enteritidis (SE) infection, have broad implications for reproductive physiology and for the prevention of transmission of zoonotic diseases to humans through the consumption of contaminated poultry eggs. Because the main route of egg contamination is from infection of the oviduct and mainly from the vagina, the aim of this study was to investigate the expression of the ten cTLRs identified to date in the chicken oviduct in vivo, to determine whether sexual maturation affects their mRNA abundance and to investigate whether SE infection alters the expression of TLRs in the chicken vagina. RNA was extracted from the vagina of healthy prepubertal, sexually mature and aged birds, and from sexually mature and aged SE infected birds. RT-PCR analysis revealed that all types of cTLRs apart from TLR1-1 were expressed in the vagina of sexually mature birds. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis revealed that the mRNA abundance of TLR2-1, 2-2 and 4 differ with respect to sexual maturation in the chicken vagina. SE infection resulted in a significant induction of TLR5 and 15 in the vagina of sexually mature birds, and in a significant induction of TLR2-1, 4 and 15 in the vagina of aged birds, while a significant down-regulation was observed for TLR7 in the vagina of sexually mature birds. These findings suggest that a TLR mediated immune response mechanism exists in the chicken vagina, playing a crucial role in preventing microbial pathogens from being incorporated into newly forming eggs.
Toll 样受体（TLRs）是许多脊椎动物，包括禽类先天免疫反应的关键组成部分。最近发现鸡 TLRs（cTLRs）在卵巢卵泡和鸡卵巢中的表达，以及它们在脂多糖或肠炎沙门氏菌（SE）感染时表达的变化，对生殖生理学以及预防通过食用受污染的家禽蛋将人畜共患病传播给人类具有广泛的意义。由于鸡蛋污染的主要途径是输卵管感染，主要来自阴道，因此本研究旨在研究目前在鸡输卵管中鉴定的 10 种 cTLRs 的表达，确定性成熟是否影响其 mRNA 丰度，并研究 SE 感染是否改变 TLRs 在鸡阴道中的表达。从健康的未成熟、性成熟和老年鸟类的阴道以及性成熟和感染 SE 的老年鸟类的阴道中提取 RNA。RT-PCR 分析显示，除 TLR1-1 外，所有类型的 cTLRs 在性成熟鸟类的阴道中均有表达。定量实时 PCR 分析显示，TLR2-1、2-2 和 4 的 mRNA 丰度在鸡阴道中随性成熟而变化。SE 感染导致性成熟鸟类阴道中 TLR5 和 15 的显著诱导，以及老年鸟类阴道中 TLR2-1、4 和 15 的显著诱导，而性成熟鸟类阴道中 TLR7 的表达则显著下调。这些发现表明，TLR 介导的免疫反应机制存在于鸡阴道中，在防止微生物病原体进入新形成的鸡蛋中起着至关重要的作用。
