Polymorphisms in mannose-binding lectin (MBL) gene and their association with MBL protein levels in serum in the Hu sheep

miR-509-5p anti-infection response for mycoplasma pneumonia in sheep by targeting NF-κB pathway

MicroRNAs play a key role in Mannan-binding lectin-mediated resistance to Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae pneumonia, by regulating the translation of mRNAs of target genes, thereby regulating the immune response. Additionally, TRAF6 is a key molecule in Toll-like receptor signal transduction, which mediates inflammation and apoptosis signaling pathways and is widely involved in inflammation and immune response. While the molecular regulation mechanism has not been reported. In this study, we screened differentially expressed miRNAs and genes of Anti-infection for M. pneumonia on Sheep, through relevant bioinformatics analysis. Further, the effect of differential expression of NF-κB signaling pathway related genes on the molecular mechanism of M. pneumonia was detected. We used miRNA-mRNA integrated analysed, the target gene TRAF6 of miR-509-5p was selected. TRAF6 dual luciferase reporter vector was co-transfected into HEK 293T cells and primary sheep respiratory mucosal epithelial cells to detect changes in luciferase activity. qRT-PCR was used to analyze the effect of miR-509-5p on the expression and regulation of TRAF6 and other genes related to the NF-κB signaling pathway. The result confirmed that TRAF6 was a target gene of miR-509-5p. Compared with miR-509-5p-NC group, the luciferase activity of miR-509-5p group was significantly down-regulated (P < 0.01). Further, in sheep respiratory mucosal epithelial cells, miR-509-5p mimic could significantly down-regulate the fold change value of TRAF6 (P < 0.01). On the contrary, miR-509-5p-inhibitor up-regulated the fold change value of TRAF6 (P < 0.05). Interestingly, the expression levels of other genes were different. Among them, miR-509-5p mimic significantly up-regulated TLR4 and IRAK4 (P < 0.05), significantly down-regulated TAK1 (P < 0.05) and NF-κB (P < 0.01). miR-509-5p-inhibitor significantly up-regulated NF-κB (P < 0.05) and TAK1 (P < 0.01). miR-509-5p targets TRAF6 to affect the expression of downstream genes, which negatively regulates the NF-κB pathway, thereby affecting the inflammatory response.

Comparative profiling of the resistance of different genotypes of mannose-binding lectin to Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection in Chinese Merino sheep based on high-throughput sequencing technology

Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) glycoproteins in blood can selectively recognise lectins on the surface of bacteria, and play an important role in natural immunity. Micro RNAs (miRNAs) are key molecules that regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level in vivo, and their pathways are specific and effective. Previous studies indicate that small RNAs such as miRNAs perform regulatory roles in immunology. Herein, we investigated differential expression of miRNAs during MBL protein immunotherapy in sheep following treatment with different MBL genotypes (resistant and susceptible), and identified miRNAs linked to different target genes and pathways. RNA was extracted from liver tissue of resistant and susceptible sheep, miRNAs were identified by high-throughput sequencing, and differentially expressed miRNAs were analysed by SOAP to predict target genes and biological pathways. Results: Some miRNAs (oar-mir-143, oar-mir-10b, oar-mir-382, oar-mir-432 and oar-mir-379) were up-regulated, while others were down-regulated. GPATCH3 and DNAJC5 were predicted target genes of oar-mir-379, DMRT1 and GATA4 were linked to oar-mir-382, and oar-mir-432 was associated with STAT2, DMRT1 and ATG16L1. Identification of miRNAs differentially expressed in resistant and susceptible sheep may expand our understanding of miRNAs in immune regulation, and the role of MBL in innate immunity.

C-Type Lectins in Veterinary Species: Recent Advancements and Applications

C-type lectins (CTLs), a superfamily of glycan-binding receptors, play a pivotal role in the host defense against pathogens and the maintenance of immune homeostasis of higher animals and humans. CTLs in innate immunity serve as pattern recognition receptors and often bind to glycan structures in damage- and pathogen-associated molecular patterns. While CTLs are found throughout the whole animal kingdom, their ligand specificities and downstream signaling have mainly been studied in humans and in model organisms such as mice. In this review, recent advancements in CTL research in veterinary species as well as potential applications of CTL targeting in veterinary medicine are outlined.

Immunogenetic heterogeneity in a widespread ungulate: the European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus)

Understanding how immune genetic variation is shaped by selective and neutral processes in wild populations is of prime importance in both evolutionary biology and epidemiology. The European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) has considerably expanded its distribution range these last decades, notably by colonizing agricultural landscapes. This range shift is likely to have led to bottlenecks and increased roe deer exposure to a new range of pathogens that until recently predominantly infected humans and domestic fauna. We therefore investigated the historical and contemporary forces that have shaped variability in a panel of genes involved in innate and acquired immunity in roe deer, including Mhc-Drb and genes encoding cytokines or toll-like receptors (TLRs). Together, our results suggest that genetic drift is the main contemporary evolutionary force shaping immunogenetic variation within populations. However, in contrast to the classical view, we found that some innate immune genes involved in micropathogen recognition (e.g. Tlrs) continue to evolve dynamically in roe deer in response to pathogen-mediated positive selection. Most studied Tlrs (Tlr2, Tlr4 and Tlr5) had similarly high levels of amino acid diversity in the three studied populations including one recently established in southwestern France that showed a clear signature of genetic bottleneck. Tlr2 implicated in the recognition of Gram-positive bacteria in domestic ungulates, showed strong evidence of balancing selection. The high immunogenetic variation revealed here implies that roe deer are able to cope with a wide spectrum of pathogens and to respond rapidly to emerging infectious diseases.

The relationship between the variants of the bovine MBL2 gene and milk production traits, mastitis, serum MBL-C levels and complement activity

Mannose-binding lectin (MBL), a calcium-dependent collagenous lectin, plays an important role in the host immune defence against a wide range of pathogens. There are MBL1 and MBL2 genes which encode the MBL-A and MBL-C proteins, respectively. This study was carried out to investigate the relationship between the variants of the bovine MBL2 gene and milk production traits, mastitis, serum MBL-C levels and hemolytic complement activity in both classical pathway (CH50) and alternative pathway (ACH50) in Chinese Holstein cattle. Four single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the exon 1 of the MBL2 gene in Chinese Holstein cattle and Luxi yellow cattle were identified by the direct sequencing method. The SNP g.201 G>A was identified as a non-synonymous mutation (codon 31, Arg>Gln) at the N-terminus cysteine-rich domain and the SNPs g.234 C>A and g.235 G>A (codon 42) made Pro to Gln at the 1st Gly-X-Y repeat of the collagen-like domain, while the SNP g.244 T>C (codon 45) was identified as a synonymous mutation (Asn>Asn) at the 2 th Gly-X-Y repeat of the collagen-like domain. The SNP markers (g.201 G>A, and g.234 C>A) were significantly correlated with somatic cell score (SCS) (P<0.05). The concentration of MBL-C protein in serum ranges from 0.8 to 7.4 μg/mL by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Six combinations of different haplotypes from the four SNPs were identified in Chinese Holstein cattle. Statistical analysis revealed that cows with the haplotype combination H4H5 exhibited the lowest SCS. The CH50 value of H4H5 and H5H5 cow are significantly higher than H2H5 haplotype combination (P<0.05). The association analysis results showed that the haplotype combination H4H5 may be used as a tolerance haplotype combination for the bovine mastitis.