Two new IncRNAs regulate the key immune factor NOD1 and TRAF5 in chicken lymphocyte

Reticuloendotheliosis virus (REV) causes the atrophy of immune organs and immuno-suppression in chickens, but the underlying molecular mechanism of the immune response after infection by REV is not well understood. Presently, the RNA-seq was used to analyze the regulation of immune response to REV in chicken lymphocytes from peripheral blood. Overall, 134 differentially expressed long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) between cells with REV infection or without in vitro were screened. Based on the differentially expressed protein-coding genes, the nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor pathway related to immune regulation was enriched. Two lncRNAs (L11530 and L09863) were predicted to target the NOD1 and tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 5 (TRAF5) gene, respectively, which are involved in the NOD-like receptor pathway with cis-regulation way. The in vitro results revealed the significantly up-regulated (P<0.01) levels of lncRNA-L11530 and its target gene, NOD1, and the significantly down-regulated (P<0.05) levels of lncRNA-L09863 and its target gene, TRAF5, in lymphocytes after REV infection. These changes also occurred in vivo in blood lymphocytes of chickens infected with REV. Further, L09863 and L11530 were respectively interfered, the expression levels of their target genes NOD1 or TRAF5 were significantly down-regulated, accompanied by the change of IL-8 and IL-18 secretions in lymphocytes. The NOD-like receptor pathway appears to be important in the immune response to REV, LncRNA-11530 and IncRNA-09863 might involve in the immune regulation on REV infection by targeting NOD1 or TRAF5 in blood lymphocytes of chickens. Our findings reveal a new regulation of lncRNAs (L11530 and L09863) on immunity in chicken peripheral blood lymphocytes for REV infection by changing the expression of the target genes via the NOD-like receptor pathway.