A dominant antigenic epitope on SARS-CoV spike protein identified by an avian single-chain variable fragment (scFv)-expressing phage

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a newly emergent human disease, which requires rapid diagnosis and effective therapy. Among antibody sources, immunoglobulin Y (IgY) is the major antibody found in chicken eggs and can be used as an alternative to mammalian antibodies normally used in research and immunotherapy. In this study, phage-expressing chicken monoclonal scFv antibody was chosen and characterized with phage display antibody technology. Truncated fragments of SARS-CoV spike protein were cloned in pET-21 vector and expressed in BL-21 Escherichia coli (E. coli) cells. After purification, the purity of these recombinant spike proteins was examined on SDS-PAGE and their identity verified with Western blot analysis using anti-his antibodies and sera from convalescent stage SARS-CoV-infected patients. Using these bacteria-derived proteins to immunize chickens, it was found that polyclonal IgY antibodies in the egg yolk and sera were highly reactive to the immunogens, as shown by Western blot and immunocytochemical staining analysis. A phage displaying scFv library was also established from spleen B cells of immunized chicken with 5 x 10(7) clones. After four panning cycles, the eluted phage titer showed a 10-fold increase. In sequence analysis with chicken germline gene, five phage clones reacted, with large dissimilarities of between 31 and 62%, in the complementarity-determining regions, one dominant phage 4S1 had strong binding to fragment Se-e, located between amino acid residues 456-650 of the spike protein and this particular phage had significantly strong binding to SARS-CoV-infected Vero E6 cells. Based on the results, we conclude that generating specific scFv-expressing phage binders with the phage display system can be successfully achieved and that this knowledge can be applied in clinical or academic research.     

噬菌体肽库技术筛选抗PRRSV肽及其应用

噬菌体展示肽库是一种被广泛用于抗原表位鉴定,结合蛋白筛选的技术。该试验利用噬菌体展示技术筛选与猪呼吸与繁殖障碍综合征病毒（PRRSV）ORF1B复制酶蛋白相互作用的蛋白,并进一步验证筛选蛋白的抗病毒作用。以表达纯化的PRRSV ORF1B蛋白CTD包被高亲和性96孔板作为靶蛋白,应用T7噬菌体展示技术对随机12肽库cDNA文库进行筛选,并分析测序筛选的克隆。将筛选出的克隆序列合成后,在体外验证合成多肽的抗PRRSV效果。结果表明,在4轮的噬菌体筛选后,共得到87个阳性克隆,经测序鉴定出11个筛选的12肽,并通过体外抗病毒试验得到P10是一个具有高抗病毒活性的12肽。试验结果为PRRSV的抗病毒研究奠定了基础。     

抗犬瘟热病毒VHH抗体噬菌体库的构建与筛选

为构建特异性犬瘟热病毒（CDV）的纳米抗体库,获得抗CDV的VHH抗体,本试验利用CDV免疫羊驼,四免后采集外周血淋巴细胞,提取总RNA反转录为cDNA,利用巢式PCR扩增纳米抗体序列。将目的片段连接至pComb3x噬菌体展示载体,并电转至TG1宿主菌,挑取40个克隆进行菌液PCR验证,随机挑选13个阳性单克隆进行测序,计算抗体库库容量,加入辅助噬菌粒拯救获得的噬菌体展示抗体库。经过3轮淘选,富集对CDV结合力高的噬菌体。利用毕赤酵母系统表达两株结合力高的噬菌体,经Ni柱纯化后,利用ELISA进行噬菌体结合力的鉴定。结果表明,四免后羊驼血清效价达1：25 000,达到建库要求,构建的噬菌体展示文库库容量达3.41×10⁹ PFU。经过3轮淘选,特异性抗体库经稀释100倍后,ELISA检测仍为阳性,表明特异性结合CDV的噬菌体得到明显的富集。ELISA结果表明,两株纯化的纳米抗体与CDV的反应性显著高于对照组。以上结果提示,本研究成功筛选出2株特异性结合CDV的VHH抗体,为VHH抗体在犬瘟热的诊断和治疗方面的应用奠定了基础。     

Mimotope of Leptospira from phage-displayed random peptide library is reactive with both monoclonal antibodies and patients' sera

The study aim was to use random heptapeptide library displayed by bacteriophage T7 for identifying mimotopes from 15 monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) specific to Leptospira spp., and from four leptospirosis patient sera, respectively. The bound phages, selected from fourth round of bio-panning with each antibody, were cloned by plaque isolation and the binding specificity of individual clones were confirmed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, before being further amplified and checked for phage peptide sequence using PCR and DNA sequencing. All together 150 phages were selected, mimotope from 86 phages (56.6%) were found to match with protein sequences of Leptospira from GenBank database. The predominant mimotopes were mimotope with sequence LTPCD that found in 27.3%, followed by TPCSK (16%), KSKKSS (4%), KTKRXAS (4%), SSKSYR (3.3%), DPNXNSF (3.3%), KSGRC (2.6%), TLINIF (2%), TPCI (2%), 1.33% each with mimotopes PKKS, PCNTKXTA, and CTKKK, and one phage each (0.66%) with mimotopes PTFGS, TNSKRK, SKSSRC, RSKRIR, VTNNTP, and CSNXSKR. Interestingly, mimotopes LTPCD, TPCSK, and TPCI were found to react with both MAb and patient's sera. The matched proteins from GenBank namely, leptospiral putative outer membrane protein (matched with mimotope PTFGS), thermolysin precursor protein (matched with mimotope TPCIXXGSAS), and hypothetical protein LIC12228 (matched with mimotope CSNXSKR), were found to locate at outer membrane of Leptospira. These phage mimotopes and matched proteins may have potential for further use as diagnostic reagent and immunogen against leptospirosis in the future. The results demonstrate that phage display technique has potential for rapidly identifying phage mimotopes that interact with leptospiral MAbs and patient's sera.     

噬菌体展示系统的构建及其在疾病防控领域应用研究进展

噬菌体展示技术作为目前应用广泛的展示抗体技术,逐渐成为生产基因工程抗体的重要工具。噬菌体展示技术是以噬菌体或噬菌粒为载体,通过将外源多肽基因整合到噬菌体基因中,以融合表达的形式将外源蛋白展示在噬菌体表面的分子生物学技术。近年来,噬菌体展示技术在抗体筛选领域的应用越来越广泛,与传统制备抗体的方法相比,噬菌体展示技术具有通量高、成本低、操作简单等特点,且通过该技术筛选得到的抗体不仅可在标签蛋白的辅助下进行选择和纯化,还可通过基因测序的方法得到单链抗体的完整基因序列。笔者首先对噬菌体抗体库进行分类,根据抗体的来源将噬菌体抗体库分为天然抗体库和免疫抗体库,通过免疫动物制备的抗体文库的特异性、抗体阳性率明显高于天然抗体文库;其次简述了噬菌体抗体库的构建流程,其中噬菌体表达载体的选择是展示技术的关键,整合了噬菌粒基因的辅助噬菌体侵染其特异性菌株,从而通过抗生素平板对该系统进行选择性筛选;最后讨论了噬菌体展示技术在疾病防控领域应用的研究进展,抗体的首次人源化使同源性抗体在临床上应用成为可能,后续用于预防和治疗病毒性疾病的动物同源性抗体的研发进一步证明了噬菌体展示技术用于生产诊断或潜在治疗试剂的能力。该综述主要聚焦于噬菌体展示系统的构建及其在疾病防控领域的应用,以期对后续通过噬菌体展示技术筛选单链抗体的应用提供指导。     

牛病毒性腹泻病毒E2蛋白纳米抗体筛选及反应原性检测

通过噬菌体展示技术筛选牛病毒性腹泻病毒(BVDV)重组E2蛋白特异性纳米抗体,验证纳米抗体反应原性。使用BVDV灭活疫苗免疫羊驼,分别在第0、21、49及70天采集全血,测得抗体效价后分离全血中淋巴细胞,提取总RNA,反转录后PCR扩增目的片段。目的片段和pCANTAB5E使用限制性内切酶酶切连接后转至TG1感受态细胞中,应用噬菌体展示技术构建VHH噬菌体展示文库。再经过3轮"吸附-洗脱-筛选"后得到与BVDV-E2结合的噬菌体,用ELISA鉴定其反应性。结果获得插入率为90.8%,库容为1.02×107 CFU/mL的文库。ELISA结果和序列分析显示,得到2条与E2蛋白具有良好反应性的纳米抗体且与VHH同源性较高的序列。研究结果为BVDV的防控和新型疫苗的研制奠定基础。     

使用流式细胞仪分离精子进行仔猪性别控制的研究

本研究旨在探索流式细胞仪分离精子在猪性别控制中的应用。使用流式细胞仪分离猪XY精子,而后通过母猪输卵管授精生产"预知"性别的仔猪,并使用吖啶橙染色法检测粗分离对精子核酸含量的影响。结果,成功利用分离获得的猪X和Y精子对母猪进行输卵管授精,母猪怀孕率、产仔率均为100%;输Y精子母猪产仔雄性率100%(♂6/6),对照母猪产仔雄性率57.14%(♂8/14);3头输X精子母猪产母仔率91.67%(♀11/12),对照母猪产雌性仔猪40%(♀2/5);使用性别分离精子不影响母猪的怀孕率、产仔率,但窝产仔数较低;吖啶橙染色法检测结果表明,流式细胞仪粗分离对猪精子核酸含量没有显著影响(P>0.05)。本研究结果提示,使用流式细胞仪分离精子授精可以有效改变仔猪的性别比例。本研究结果为猪分离精子性别控制技术的推广应用奠定了基础。     

Selection of immunodominant mimics of IROMP-99 of rabbit Pasteurella multocida from a random 12-peptide library

A random 12-peptide library was used to screen immunodominant mimics of 99kDa iron-regulated outer membrane protein (IROMP-99) of rabbit Pasteurella multocida. In the present study, expression of IROMPs of rabbit P. multocida strain C51-12 were analyzed by SDS-PAGE, and Western blot to determine the specificity of rat antiserum antibodies against IROMP-99. Only IROMP-99 whose expression was induced under iron-restricted conditions was detected on nitrocellulose paper. The phage display library was screened with rat normal and IROMP-99-specific antiserum. The positive phage clones were identified using enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assay (ELISA) and inhibition assays for their reactivity to the antiserum. Out of the 18 randomly selected positive clones that showed higher reactivity to rat antiserum, only ten clones efficaciously inhibited binding of rat antisera to IROMPs and their displayed peptides were determined. Alignment using DNAStar-MegAlign software, results showed that motif WHxTxP was highly conserved among nine clones, only clone A7 had no obvious linear homology with either. Our findings suggest that the motif WHxTxP could be an immunodominant mimic epitope of IROMP-99 of rabbit P. multocida strain C51-12.     

牛病毒性腹泻病毒NS3蛋白纳米抗体的筛选及反应原性检测

本研究旨在获得高效特异性的牛病毒性腹泻病毒（BVDV）NS3（P80）非结构蛋白的纳米抗体。用BVDV灭活疫苗免疫羊驼,测得抗体效价后分离全血中的淋巴细胞。通过噬菌体展示技术构建羊驼重链抗体可变区噬菌体展示文库。经过连续3次吸附-洗脱-扩增的生物筛淘,从中挑选出与BVDV-NS3蛋白结合的噬菌体。对经菌液PCR、琼脂糖凝胶电泳鉴定到的单域抗体（VHH）克隆进行基因测序和同源性比对。用ELISA方法验证筛选出的纳米抗体的反应原性,找到与BVDV-NS3蛋白亲和力高的纳米抗体。结果表明,获得插入率为92.8%、库容为1.84×10¹⁴ CFU/mL的噬菌体展示文库。ELISA结果和氨基酸序列分析显示,成功得到1条与BVDV-NS3蛋白具有良好反应性且与VHH同源性较高的纳米抗体序列。本研究利用大肠杆菌成功表达BVDV-NS3抗原蛋白,建立BVDV纳米抗体噬菌体展示文库,筛选到针对BVDV重要抗原蛋白相应的纳米抗体且与VHH同源性较高。试验结果为牛病毒性腹泻/黏膜病的防控、诊断、治疗及纳米抗体药物的研制提供参考。     

抗庆大霉素噬菌体抗体库的构建和筛选

本研究使用噬菌体抗体库技术筛选针对庆大霉素（gentamicin）的单链抗体。以抗庆大霉素杂交瘤细胞株（2A3）为基因来源构建scFv基因,连接至pCANTAB5E噬菌粒载体,通过电击转化TG1（Escherichia coli TG1）构建了库容量为6.5×106噬菌体单链抗体库。抗庆大霉素噬菌体单链抗体库进行三轮富集筛选,通过Phage-ELISA技术成功筛选出了9个抗庆大霉素噬菌体阳性克隆,为开发新型残留检测用抗体奠定了基础。     

猪O型口蹄疫病毒非结构蛋白3ABC抗原模拟表位的筛选

口蹄疫病毒（FMDV）非结构蛋白（NSP）3ABC与FMDV复制有关，感染FMDV的动物产生的NSP 3ABC抗体可在体内存留较长时间，是鉴别诊断动物接种疫苗与自然感染口蹄疫的可靠指标。本文从猪FMDV—NSP 3ABC阳性抗血清中分离和纯化IgG，以此为固相筛选分子，对噬菌体随机十二肽库进行4轮吸附-洗脱-扩增的富集筛选后，随机挑取20个噬菌斑进行扩增，用ELISA方法分别检测扩增后的噬菌体抗原性，其中有8个噬菌体克隆与纯化的IgG有较强的特异性结合能力；对得到的阳性克隆提取ssDNA进行测序，分析所递呈的氨基酸序列，其中的7个噬菌体展示肽的氨基酸片段具有较高的保守性；进一步分别以8个阳性噬菌体克隆为固相捕获分子，对22份疑似FMD病猪血清进行检测，结果显示，有5个噬菌体克隆检测结果与试剂盒检测有较高的符合率。本研究为FMDV—NSP 3ABC抗原表位结构进一步研究和建立猪自然感染FMDV快速鉴别诊断新方法奠定了基础。     

牛病毒性腹泻病毒NS3蛋白纳米抗体的筛选及反应原性检测

本研究旨在获得高效特异性的牛病毒性腹泻病毒(BVDV)NS3(P80)非结构蛋白的纳米抗体。用BVDV灭活疫苗免疫羊驼,测得抗体效价后分离全血中的淋巴细胞。通过噬菌体展示技术构建羊驼重链抗体可变区噬菌体展示文库。经过连续3次吸附-洗脱-扩增的生物筛淘,从中挑选出与BVDV-NS3蛋白结合的噬菌体。对经菌液PCR、琼脂糖凝胶电泳鉴定到的单域抗体(VHH)克隆进行基因测序和同源性比对。用ELISA方法验证筛选出的纳米抗体的反应原性,找到与BVDV-NS3蛋白亲和力高的纳米抗体。结果表明,获得插入率为92.8%、库容为1.84×1014 CFU/mL的噬菌体展示文库。ELISA结果和氨基酸序列分析显示,成功得到1条与BVDV-NS3蛋白具有良好反应性且与VHH同源性较高的纳米抗体序列。本研究利用大肠杆菌成功表达BVDV-NS3抗原蛋白,建立BVDV纳米抗体噬菌体展示文库,筛选到针对BVDV重要抗原蛋白相应的纳米抗体且与VHH同源性较高。试验结果为牛病毒性腹泻/黏膜病的防控、诊断、治疗及纳米抗体药物的研制提供参考。     

哺乳动物性控DNA疫苗研究现状和构想

介绍了DNA疫苗的定义、组成、机理、应用策略,综述了X、Y精子间蛋白和mRNA的研究现状,指出X、Y精子间基因表达差异的存在,利用mRNA差异显示技术可对X、Y精子构建性别差异表达的消减cDNA文库,大规模筛选性别差异表达基因,在此基础上应用DNA疫苗技术,既避开蛋白质水平寻找X、Y精子弱差异蛋白这个困难,又能够特异性地抑制X或Y精子,更经济地实现对性别的控制.性控DNA疫苗是新的研究方向.     

绵羊精子细胞核质转运蛋白KPNA4的研究

旨在对绵羊附睾头、体和尾部的精子进行蛋白质组学分析,获得差异表达蛋白,对数据进行功能富集分析,挖掘精子发生/成熟关键蛋白质。本研究选择12月龄左右健康的3只雄性湖羊为试验动物,分离附睾并按区域收集精子,3组样本(附睾头部组、附睾体部组和附睾尾部组),每组3个生物学重复,共计9例绵羊精子细胞样本。基于TMT标定定量蛋白质组学分析和R语言等工具,在获取的差异表达蛋白中进行GO和KEGG富集分析,并利用蛋白质免疫印迹(Western bolt)、免疫荧光(immunofluorescence)和流式细胞术(flow cytometry)试验验证结果的可靠性。从22 841个唯一性肽中鉴定到差异蛋白质616种,其中,尾vs头组鉴定出309个差异表达蛋白(上调213个,下调96个);尾vs.体组鉴定出167个差异表达蛋白(上调107个,下调60个);体vs头组鉴定出140个差异表达蛋白(上调88个,下调52个)。根据差异倍数与蛋白质功能,筛选出可能与精子成熟、核质物质转运相关的关键蛋白-KPNA4。本研究揭示了绵羊附睾不同部位精子的特点与差异,这些数据为研究雄性绵羊的生殖机制和精子成熟提供了丰富的资源。     

日本乙型脑炎病毒E抗原表位的筛选

为筛选日本乙型脑炎病毒(JEV)的E抗原表位,本实验以抗JEV E蛋白的单克隆抗体(MAb)作为固相筛选分子,应用噬菌体表面展示技术,按消减、结合、洗脱、扩增的顺序筛选噬菌体七肽库,挑取噬菌体单克隆培养并采用MAb包被的ELISA鉴定,对阳性克隆测序分析,确定JEV E抗原模拟表位的氨基酸序列.设计合成包含该表位的E抗原15肽(E-365GGADSMSMAGMAVSYE-379)cDNA序列,与pGEX-KG构建重组表达质粒,诱导表达重组多肽并进行western blot验证.经过4轮筛选后,噬菌体得到高度富集,挑取单克隆采用MAb包被进行ELISA鉴定,有22个克隆呈阳性.对重组多肽进行western blot验证,结果表明该重组多肽能够特异结合兔抗JEV多克隆抗体.本实验成功筛选出JEV结构蛋白E的特异性噬菌体模拟表位,为开展用JEV抗原表位探索JEV的防制研究创造了条件,为多肽疫苗研制、药物筛选以及特异血清学诊断方法的建立提供重要依据.     

Initiation of a Sarcocystis neurona expressed sequence tag (EST) sequencing project: a preliminary report

To accelerate genetic and molecular characterization of Sarcocystis neurona, the primary causative agent of equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM), a sequencing project has been initiated that will generate approximately 7000-8000 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from this apicomplexan parasite. Poly(A)(+) RNA was isolated from culture-derived S. neurona merozoites, and a cDNA library was constructed in a unidirectional lambda phage cloning vector. Sixty phage clones were randomly picked from the library, and the cDNA inserts were amplified from these clones using the T3 and T7 primers that flank the multi-cloning site of the lambda vector. This analysis demonstrated that 100% (60/60) of the clones selected from this library contained recombinant cDNA inserts ranging in size from 0.4 to 4.0 kilobases (kb) with an average size of 1.23kb. Single-pass sequencing from the 5' end of the 60 amplified cDNAs produced high-quality nucleotide sequence from 53 of the clones. Comparison of these ESTs to the current gene databases revealed significant matches for 10 of the ESTs, six of which are similar to sequences from other Apicomplexa (i.e., Toxoplasma gondii). Importantly, none of the ESTs were of obvious mammalian origin, thus indicating that the cDNAs in this library were derived primarily from parasite mRNA and not from mRNA of the bovine turbinate host cells. Collectively, these data indicate that the described cDNA library will provide an excellent substrate for generating a portion of the ESTs that are planned from S. neurona. This sequencing project will greatly hasten gene discovery for this protozoan pathogen thereby enhancing efforts towards the development of improved diagnostics, treatments, and preventatives for EPM. In addition, the S. neurona ESTs will represent a significant contribution to the extensive database of sequences from the Apicomplexa. Comparative analyses of these apicomplexan sequences will likely offer a multitude of important information about the biology and evolutionary history of this phylogenetic grouping of parasites.     

Phage display selection and characterization of single-chain recombinant antibodies against Eimeria tenella sporozoites

A single-chain antibody library against Eimeria tenella sporozoites was constructed by phage display. Antibody-displaying phage was selected in five panning rounds against cryopreserved E. tenella sporozoites. A 1000-fold increase in phage output and a 3000-fold enrichment were obtained after three rounds of panning, as the binding clones became the dominant population in the library. Ten clones were randomly selected from the last selection round, and their nucleotide sequences were aligned and compared to chicken germ-line sequences. Analysis of the light chain variable regions revealed possible donor pseudogenes which act as donors in gene conversion events, and contribute to the diversification of the V(L) immune repertoire. Possible somatic hypermutation events, a consequence of affinity maturation, were also identified. Soluble antibody was produced in a non-suppressor E. coli strain, purified by nickel affinity chromatography, and characterized by immunoblotting. In an immunofluorescence assay, this recombinant antibody showed specific binding to E. tenella sporozoites.     

Occurrence of IgE in foals: evidence for transfer of maternal IgE by the colostrum and late onset of endogenous IgE production in the horse

IgE is the key antibody involved in type I allergies. Allergen mediated crosslinking of IgE bound to high affinity Fc-receptors on mast cells and basophils stimulates cellular degranulation and release of inflammatory mediators and cytokines. In this report, we demonstrate that IgE antibodies can be transferred from the mother to offspring in horses via the colostrum. We found a clear correlation between the IgE concentration in colostrum and the total IgE concentration in foal sera on day 2 after birth (r_sp = 0.83). Maternal IgE was detected in foal sera by ELISA and on peripheral blood leukocytes of foals by flow cytometry. Both serum and cell membrane-bound IgE were undetectable in newborn foals before colostrum uptake and peaked on days 2–5 after birth. Cell-bound IgE became undetectable at 2 months after birth. Serum IgE disappeared from the circulation within the first 3–4 months of age. These kinetics suggest that the IgE antibodies which are detectable in foals during the first 4 months after birth are of maternal origin only. The endogenous IgE production was found to begin at 9–11 months of age, when IgE could be detected on peripheral blood leukocytes and in foal sera again. After 18 months of life, the total IgE concentrations in foal sera were comparable to those detected in their dams. The late onset of endogenous IgE production offers an explanation for observations that IgE mediated allergies are generally not observed in horses before puberty. The roles of the passively transferred maternal IgE in newborn foals are not yet known, but could be manifold, ranging from passive immunity and induction of immunoregulatory functions to determinative influences of maternal IgE on the antibody repertoire in the offspring.     

Identification and immunogenicity of an immunodominant mimotope of Avibacterium paragallinarum from a phage display peptide library

Avibacterium paragallinarum is the causative agent of infectious coryza. The protective antigens of this important pathogen have not yet been clearly identified. In this paper, we applied phage display technique to screen the immunodominant mimotopes of a serovar A strain of A. paragallinarum by using a random 12-peptide library, and evaluated the immunogenicity in chickens of the selected mimotope. Polyclonal antibody directed against A. paragallinarum strain 0083 (serovar A) was used as the target antibody and phage clones binding to this target were screened from the 12-mer random peptide library. More than 50% of the phage clones selected in the third round carried the consensus peptide motif sequence A-DP(M)L. The phage clones containing the peptide motif reacted with the target antibody and this interaction could be blocked, in a dose-dependent manner, by A. paragallinarum. One of the peptide sequences, YGLLAVDPLFKP, was selected and the corresponding oligonucleotide sequence was synthesized and then inserted into the expression vector pFliTrx. The recombinant plasmid was transferred into an expression host Escherichia coli GI826 by electroporation, resulting in a recombinant E. coli expressing the peptide on the bacterial surface. Intramuscular injection of the epitope-expressing recombinant bacteria into chickens induced a specific serological response to serovar A. A. paragallinarum. The chickens given the recombinant E. coli showed significant protection against challenge with A. paragallinarum 0083. These results indicated a potential for the use of the mimotope in the development of molecular vaccines for infectious coryza.     

Immunophenotyping of chicken peripheral blood lymphocyte subpopulations: individual variability and repeatability

T-cell lymphocyte populations can be delineated into subsets based on expression of cell surface proteins that can be measured in peripheral blood by monoclonal antibodies and flow cytometry percentages of the lymphocyte subpopulations. In order to accurately assess immunocompetence in birds, natural variability in both avian immune function and the methodology must be understood. Our objectives were to (1) further develop flow cytometry for estimating subpopulations of lymphocytes in peripheral blood from poultry, (2) estimate repeatability and variability in the methodology with respect to poultry in a free-range and environmentally diverse situation, and (3) estimate the best antibody and cell marker combination for estimating lymphocyte subpopulations. This work demonstrated the repeatability of using flow cytometry for measurements of peripheral blood in chickens using anti-chicken antibodies for lymphocyte subpopulations. Immunofluorescence staining of cells isolated from peripheral blood revealed that the CD3(+) antibodies reacted with an average of approximately 12-24% of the lymphoid cells in the blood, depending on the fluorescence type. The CD4(+) and CD8(+) molecules were expressed in a range of 4-31% and 1-10% of the lymphoid cells in the blood, respectively. Both fluorescence label and antibody company contribute to the variability of results and should be considered in future flow cytometry studies in poultry.