The Roles of Bursal Nonapeptide (BP9) on AIV Vaccine Immune Response in Chick Immunization and on Avian Immature B Cell

Abstract

Background: Bursa of Fabricius plays the vital functions on B cell development and antibody production in poultry. The bursal-derived peptide plays the essential roles on avian immature B cell development. Objectives: Here we explored the functions of the recently reported bursal nonapeptide (BP9) on the antibody production and the molecular basis of BP9 on avian immature B cell. Methods: Chicken were twice immunized with Avian Influenza Virus (AIV) inactivated vaccine plus with BP9 at three dosages, respectively. On two weeks after the second immunization, sera samples were collected from all experimental groups to measure AIV-specific Agglutination Inhibition (HI) antibody titers. Also, on 7th day after the second immunization, spleen lymphocytes were isolated from the immunized chicken to detect the lymphocyte viabilities. DT40 cells were treated with BP9 from 0.02 to 2 μg/mL for 4 and 20h to detect sIgM mRNA levels, and total RNAs from BP9-treated DT40 cells were collected to investigate the gene expression profiles of DT40 cells, and to analyze the enriched pathways and functional biological processes. Finally, nine gene expressions were validated with quantitative PCR (qPCR). Results: Our investigation proved the strong regulatory roles of BP9 on AIV-specific HI antibody titers and lymphocyte viabilities. BP9 promoted sIgM mRNA levels in DT40 cells, and upregulated 598 gene expressions and downregulated 395 gene expressions in DT40 cells with 0.2μg/mL BP9 treatment. Moreover, our findings verified the significantly enriched six pathways and various the biological functional processes of BP9 on avian immature B cell. Also, we found eight signaling pathways in the enriched biological processes of BP9-treated DT40 cells, and the expressions of nine selected genes with qPCR were identical to that of microarray data. Conclusion: BP9 promoted the antibody production in the 21-old-day chicken immunization, and stimulated the sIgM expression in DT40 cells. Furthermore, we analyzed the gene expression profile and immune-related biological processes of DT40 cells treated with BP9, which provided some new insights into the mechanism on immature B cell development, and provided important references for adjuvant development on vaccine improvement and clinical application.