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 γc chain (chCD132) and γc 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 γc protein. Immunofluorescence assay further showed that γc 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 γc 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 γc family cytokine expression and that IBDV-induced immunodeficiency involved cellular networks related to the γc family.