Infectious Bursal Disease Virus Influences the Transcription of Chicken γc and γc Family Cytokines during Infection

Infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) infection causes immunodeficiency in chickens. To understand cell-mediated immunity during IBDV infection, this study perform a detailed analysis of chicken γ c chain (chCD132) and γ c family cytokines, including interleukins 2, 4, 7, 9, and 15. The mouse anti-chCD132 monoclonal antibody (mAb) was first generated by the E.coli -expressed γ c protein. Immunofluorescence assay further showed that γ c was a protein located with the anti-chCD132 mAb on the surface of chicken's splenic mononuclear cells. Real-time quantitative RT-PCR revealed that the chCD132 mRNA transcript was persistently downregulated in embryo fibroblasts, spleen and thymus of chickens infected with IBDV. Correspondingly during IBDV infection, the transcription of five γ c family cytokines was downregulated in the thymus and presented an imbalance in the spleen. Fluorescence-activated cell sorting analyses also indicated that the percentage of CD132 + CD8 + T cells linearly decreased in the bursa of IBDV-infected chickens. These results confirmed that IBDV infection disturbed the in vivo balance of CD132 and γ c family cytokine expression and that IBDV-induced immunodeficiency involved cellular networks related to the γ c family.