Masuda Yasumitsu, Matsuda Akiko, Usui Tatsufumi, Sugai Toru, Asano Atsushi, Yamano Yoshiaki
Laboratory of Veterinary Biochemistry, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Agriculture, Tottori University, Tottori, Japan.
J Vet Med Sci. 2012 Nov;74(11):1381-6. doi: 10.1292/jvms.11-0517. Epub 2012 Jun 6.
Interferons (IFNs) are key mediators that activate host defense mechanisms against viruses. The recently identified mammalian Type III IFN has biological effects similar to type I IFN. However, the biological effects of type III IFN have not yet been characterized in birds. We compared the effects of chicken type III IFN (IFN-λ) with type I (IFN-β) and type II (IFN-γ) IFNs on IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs) using recombinant proteins expressed in Escherichia coli. Recombinant chicken IFN-λ inhibited influenza virus replication and induced the mRNA expression of the ISGs, Mx and OAS, in chicken embryonic fibroblasts (CEFs) in a dose-dependent manner. However, the effective dose of IFN-λ was higher than that of IFN-β and IFN-γ. Furthermore, the effect of IFN-λ on induction of Mx and OAS was lesser than that of IFN-β, but comparable to that of IFN-γ. These results indicate that chicken IFN-λ has the potential to induce ISGs and inhibit viral replication in chicken cells.
干扰素（IFNs）是激活宿主抗病毒防御机制的关键介质。最近鉴定出的哺乳动物III型干扰素具有与I型干扰素相似的生物学效应。然而，III型干扰素在鸟类中的生物学效应尚未得到表征。我们使用在大肠杆菌中表达的重组蛋白，比较了鸡III型干扰素（IFN-λ）与I型（IFN-β）和II型（IFN-γ）干扰素对干扰素刺激基因（ISGs）的影响。重组鸡IFN-λ以剂量依赖的方式抑制流感病毒复制，并诱导鸡胚成纤维细胞（CEFs）中ISGs、Mx和OAS的mRNA表达。然而，IFN-λ的有效剂量高于IFN-β和IFN-γ。此外，IFN-λ对Mx和OAS诱导的作用小于IFN-β，但与IFN-γ相当。这些结果表明，鸡IFN-λ具有在鸡细胞中诱导ISGs和抑制病毒复制的潜力。
