RT Journal Article
T1 Gene expression profile suggests that pigs (Sus scrofa) are susceptible to Anaplasma phagocytophilum but control infection
A1 Galindo, Ruth C
A1 Ayllón, Nieves
A1 Smrdel, Katja Strašek
A1 Boadella, Mariana
A1 Beltrán-Beck, Beatriz
A1 Mazariegos Martínez-Peñalver, María
A1 García Benzaquén, Nerea
A1 de la Lastra, José M Pérez
A1 Avsic-Zupanc, Tatjana
A1 Kocan, Katherine M
A1 Gortazar, Christian
A1 de la Fuente, José
AB BACKGROUNDAnaplasma phagocytophilum infects a wide variety of hosts and causes granulocytic anaplasmosis in humans, horses and dogs and tick-borne fever in ruminants. Infection with A. phagocytophilum results in the modification of host gene expression and immune response. The objective of this research was to characterize gene expression in pigs (Sus scrofa) naturally and experimentally infected with A. phagocytophilum trying to identify mechanisms that help to explain low infection prevalence in this species.RESULTSFor gene expression analysis in naturally infected pigs, microarray hybridization was used. The expression of differentially expressed immune response genes was analyzed by real-time RT-PCR in naturally and experimentally infected pigs. Results suggested that A. phagocytophilum infection affected cytoskeleton rearrangement and increased both innate and adaptive immune responses by up regulation of interleukin 1 receptor accessory protein-like 1 (IL1RAPL1), T-cell receptor alpha chain (TCR-alpha), thrombospondin 4 (TSP-4) and Gap junction protein alpha 1 (GJA1) genes. Higher serum levels of IL-1 beta, IL-8 and TNF-alpha in infected pigs when compared to controls supported data obtained at the mRNA level.CONCLUSIONSThese results suggested that pigs are susceptible to A. phagocytophilum but control infection, particularly through activation of innate immune responses, phagocytosis and autophagy. This fact may account for the low infection prevalence detected in pigs in some regions and thus their low or no impact as a reservoir host for this pathogen. These results advanced our understanding of the molecular mechanisms at the host-pathogen interface and suggested a role for newly reported genes in the protection of pigs against A. phagocytophilum.
PB BioMedCentral
SN 1756-3305
YR 2012
FD 2012-08-30
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/45164
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/45164
LA eng
NO Unión Europea. FP7
NO Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO)
NO CSIC
DS Docta Complutense
RD 28 abr 2025