Constitutive expression of interferons in swine leukocytes |
| |
Authors: | Massimo Amadori Antonio Cristiano Maura Ferrari |
| |
Institution: | Laboratory of Cellular Immunology, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell’Emilia-Romagna, via A. Bianchi 9, 25124 Brescia, Italy |
| |
Abstract: | Interferon (IFN)-α and IFN-γ positive cells were revealed by flow cytometry in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of Specific Pathogen Free (SPF) pigs. A low prevalence of IFN-γ positive cells was also detected in PBMC of some Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome virus-infected pigs and uninfected, control pigs. IFN-α positive cells showed phenotypes of both monocytes and plasmacytoid dendritic cells. The presence of IFN-α in PBMC was also confirmed by Western blotting. By immunoprecipitation, IFN-α was detected as 32 and 55-57 kDa bands in PBMC of healthy SPF piglets. These samples were also IFN-γ positive; the cytokine was revealed as 24, 37 and 54 kDa bands. The unusual molecular mass values of intracellular interferons were probably due to oligomerization, as previously described for human IFN-α. Swine intracellular IFN-α displayed the expected antiviral activity on bovine MDBK cells. The results indicate that interferons are constitutively expressed in swine leukocytes with peculiar molecular features. |
| |
Keywords: | Swine Leukocyte Interferon-alpha (IFN-α) Interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) Constitutive expression Innate immunity |
本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录! |