Deist Melissa S, Lamont Susan J
Department of Animal Science, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, United States.
Front Physiol. 2018 May 8;9:492. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2018.00492. eCollection 2018.
The Harderian gland is a sparsely characterized immune tissue known to play an important role in local immunity. The function of the Harderian gland, however, is not clearly defined. Measuring the expression of all genes using RNA-seq enables the identification of genes, pathways, or networks of interest. Our relative RNA-seq expression analysis compared the chicken Harderian gland transcriptome to other important primary and secondary immune tissues including the bursa of Fabricius, thymus, and spleen of non-challenged birds. A total of 2,386 transcripts were identified as highly expressed in the Harderian gland. Gene set enrichment showed the importance of G-protein coupled receptor signaling and several immune pathways. Among the genes highly expressed in the Harderian gland were 48 miRNAs, a category of genetic elements involved in regulation of gene expression. Several identified miRNAs have immune related functions. This analysis gives insight to the unique immune processes inherent in the Harderian gland.
哈德氏腺是一种特征描述较少的免疫组织，已知其在局部免疫中发挥重要作用。然而，哈德氏腺的功能尚未明确界定。使用RNA测序测量所有基因的表达能够识别感兴趣的基因、通路或网络。我们的相对RNA测序表达分析将鸡哈德氏腺转录组与其他重要的一级和二级免疫组织进行了比较，这些组织包括未受挑战的鸟类的法氏囊、胸腺和脾脏。总共鉴定出2386个在哈德氏腺中高表达的转录本。基因集富集分析显示了G蛋白偶联受体信号传导和几种免疫通路的重要性。在哈德氏腺中高表达的基因中有48个微小RNA（miRNA），这是一类参与基因表达调控的遗传元件。一些已鉴定的miRNA具有免疫相关功能。该分析揭示了哈德氏腺固有的独特免疫过程。
