Comparative transcriptome analysis of MDBK cells reveals that BoIFN-γ augmented host immune responses to bovine herpesvirus 1 infection

Abstract

Bovine herpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1) is an alphaherpesvirus that causes infectious bovine rhinotracheitis and infectious pustular vulvovaginitis in cattle. Ιnterferon-gamma (IFN-γ) is a pleiotropic cytokine with antiviral activity that modulates the innate and adaptive immune responses. In this study, we prepared high-purity bovine interferon gamma (BoIFN-γ) dimer protein using prokaryotic expression system and affinity chromatography. We subsequently investigated the effect of BoIFN-γ on BoHV-1 infection in Madin-Darby bovine kidney (MDBK) cells. The results showed that BoIFN-γ pre-treament not only decreased the production of BoHV-1 but also reduced the cytopathic effect of the virus. Differential gene expression profiles of BoHV-1 infected MDBK cells were then analysed through high-throughput RNA sequencing. The data showed that BoIFN-γ pre-treatment reduced lipid metabolism disorder and DNA damage caused by BoHV-1 infection. Furthermore, BoIFN-γ treatment upregulated the transcription of interferon regulatory transcription factors (IRF1 and GBP5) and interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) of MDBK cells. Additionally, BoIFN-γ promotes expression of cellular protein involved in complement activation and coagulation cascades response as well as antigen processing and presentation process, while BoHV-1 infection dramatically downregulates transcription of these immune components including C3, C1r, C1s, PLAT, ITGB2, PROCR, BoLA, CD74, B2M, PA28, BoLA-DRA, and TAPBP. Collectively, our findings revealed that BoIFN-γ pre-treatment can improve host resistance to BoHV-1 infection and regulate transcription or expression of host protein associated with cellular metabolism and innate immune response. This provides insights into the development of prophylactic agents for prevention and control of BoHV-1 infection.

Differential Replication and Cytokine Response between Vaccine and Very Virulent Marek’s Disease Viruses in Spleens and Bursas during Latency and Reactivation

“…IFN-γ is thought to play a crucial role in the anti-MDV immune response and can directly or indirectly resist MDV replication through the induction of nitric oxide [ 36 , 37 , 38 ]. The results of the study indicated that the expression of IFN-γ in the two lymphoid organs was upregulated by MDV infection, and the vv strain MDV/RB1B induced stronger IFN-γ transcriptional upregulation than MDV/CVI988 at 7, 14, and 21 dpi, which showed a trend similar to that reported by Bavananthasivam et al [ 39 ].…”

Development and evaluation of a time-resolved fluorescence labelled immunochromatographic strip assay for rapid and quantitative detection of bovine herpesvirus 1

“…To further evaluate the BoHV-1 ICS assay, 131 samples collected from dairy cows, including healthy and known BoHV-1-infected cows, were analysed using the BoHV-1 ICS and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) for BoHV-1 DNA in parallel. The qPCR assay was performed as previously described ( Jiang et al, 2022 ). The FI T /FI C for each sample as determined by the ICS assay was assessed using a fluorescence analyser.…”

Establishment of a cloning-free CRISPR/Cas9 protocol to generate large deletions in the bovine MDBK cell line

“…For instance, transfection of the Madin-Darby Bovine Kidney (MDBK) cells (Madin and Darby 1958 ), adherent epithelial cells frequently used as a bovine in vitro model (e.g. Li et al 2018 ; Han et al 2021 ; Jiang et al 2022 ), is challenging due to low success rates (Osorio and Bionaz 2017 ). Moreover, a plasmid-based system has its limitations, including difficulties in efficiently transferring the plasmid into the nucleus (Nakamura et al 2019 ; de Oliveira et al 2019 ).…”