Huazhen Liu

The morphological study on the adrenal gland of African ostrich chicks

The morphology of the adrenal gland has been studied for a number of animal species all over the world, yet the detailed data about ostrich chick has not been reported. In the present study, the morphological features of the adrenal gland in African ostrich chicks were investigated by means of gross anatomy, light and electron microscope. Differences between the left and right adrenal glands were found in shape, size and location. The interrenal tissue and chromaffin cell interdigitated irregularly. The interrenal tissue was divided into a peripheral zone (PZ) and a central inner zone (CZ), and the PZ was further distinguished into an outer area (subcapsular zone, SCZ) and an inner area (IZ). The cellular arrangement in these zones showed evident zonation that resembled the mammalian. This phenomenon had been previously described only for the pelicanus. The cytoplasm of interrenal cells in SCZ was stained lightly than in IZ and CZ, and contained several vacuoles. Additionally, unlike CZ cells, SCZ cells appeared to contain more mitochondria and less lipid droplets. Two types of chromaffin cells: epinephrine cells and norepinephrine cells could be detected. The type 1 granules possessed a central core and a variable distance between membrane and core; the type 2 granules had an eccentric core, which leant to one side of granule and sticked to the membrane, giving a lager lacouna appearance in another side of the granule.

Proteomic analysis indicates that mitochondrial energy metabolism in skeletal muscle tissue is negatively correlated with feed efficiency in pigs

Feed efficiency (FE) is a highly important economic trait in pig production. Investigating the molecular mechanisms of FE is essential for trait improvement. In this study, the skeletal muscle proteome of high-FE and low-FE pigs were investigated by the iTRAQ approach. A total of 1780 proteins were identified, among which 124 proteins were differentially expressed between the high- and low-FE pigs, with 74 up-regulated and 50 down-regulated in the high-FE pigs. Ten randomly selected differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were validated by Western blotting and quantitative PCR (qPCR). Gene ontology (GO) analysis showed that all the 25 DEPs located in mitochondria were down-regulated in the high-FE pigs. Furthermore, the glucose-pyruvate-tricarboxylic acid (TCA)-oxidative phosphorylation energy metabolism signaling pathway was found to differ between high- and low-FE pigs. The key enzymes involved in the conversion of glucose to pyruvate were up-regulated in the high-FE pigs. Thus, our results suggested mitochondrial energy metabolism in the skeletal muscle tissue was negatively correlated with FE in pigs, and glucose utilization to generate ATP was more efficient in the skeletal muscle tissue of high-FE pigs. This study offered new targets and pathways for improvement of FE in pigs.

Effects of lipopolysaccharide on the histomorphology and expression of toll-like receptor 4 in the chicken trachea and lung

ABSTRACT Endotoxin or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) exposure can cause injury to the respiratory airways and in response, the respiratory epithelia express toll-like receptors (TLRs) in many species. However, its role in the innate immunity in the avian respiratory system is poorly understood. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of LPS on the chicken trachea and lung. After intraperitoneal LPS or saline injection, the trachea and lungs were harvested at 0, 12, 36 and 72 h (n = 6 at each time point) and histopathologically analysed using haematoxylin and eosin and periodic acid-Schiff staining, while TLR4 expression was determined by immunohistochemistry and secretory Immunoglobulin A (SIgA) levels by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. After LPS stimulation, we observed a remarkable decrease in the number of goblet cells along with obvious disruption and desquamation of the ciliated epithelium in the trachea, blurring of the boundary between pulmonary lobules, narrowed or indistinguishable lumen of the pulmonary atria and leukostasis in the lungs. Following LPS stimulation, TLR4 protein expression was up-regulated in both the trachea and the lungs and was found on the ciliated columnar cells as well as in the submucosa of the trachea, and in the lungs on parenchymal and immune cells. However, SIgA levels were only up-regulated in the trachea at 12 h following LPS stimulation. Hence, this report provides novel information about the effects of LPS on the microstructure of the lower respiratory tract and it is concluded that its intra-peritoneal administration leads to TLR4-mediated destruction of the tracheal epithelium and pulmonary inflammation along with increased SIgA expression in the tracheal mucosa.

Lipopolysaccharide stimulation upregulated Toll-like receptor 4 expression in chicken cerebellum.

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play crucial roles in innate and adaptive immune responses to invading pathogens. TLR4 is responsible for the recognition of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in different parts of central nervous system of many vertebrates. To better understand the functions of TLR4 in cerebellum of chicken, present study was designed to identify the cell types that express TLR4 during postnatal stages as well as the changes in its expression in response to LPS challenge. For this purpose, cerebella were collected from chicken aged 1, 14 and 40 days (n=7 in each group) to analyze TLR4 distribution pattern. The cerebella from 14 chickens injected with LPS or sterilizing saline were also collected at Day 14 (n=7 in each group) to investigate changes in TLR4 expression. This expression was analyzed by immunohistochemistry using an anti-TLR4 antibody. TLR4 was constitutively expressed in the Purkinje cell layer, pia mater, neurons in medulla and blood vessels in the cerebellum and LPS stimulation significantly up-regulated TLR4 expression on Day 14 in the chicken cerebellum. This study provides evidence that neurons in chicken cerebellum can express TLR4 in vivo and suggests that these neurons may play an important role in initiating a defense reaction via activation of TLR4.

TLR4 is constitutively expressed in chick thymic epithelial cells

Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) has been suggested to play a regulatory role in immune cell development; however, studies regarding the role of TLR4 in the development of the chick thymus are scarce. In this study, we investigated the distribution and expression pattern of TLR4 in normal chick thymi at different stages of development, in order to better understand the role of TLR4 in chick thymus development. We studied the thymi from 15 chicks, collected at days 7, 21 and 35 of age. The relative change in TLR4 mRNA expression in the chick thymus at different ages was determined by quantitative real-time PCR, and changes in protein expression were analyzed by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting. Furthermore, the distribution of TLR4 in the chick thymus was analyzed by immunohistochemistry, and compared with the distribution of TLR4 expression in juvenile female pigs (gilts). Our results indicated that TLR4 was constitutively expressed in the chick thymus. TLR4 was primarily expressed in the thymic cortico-medullary junction and the medulla, particularly in the epithelial cells of Hassalls corpuscles. The mRNA and protein expression level of TLR4 increased in the thymus with increasing age (p<0.05). Taken together, these results indicate that TLR4 is constitutively expressed by epithelial cells in the chick thymus, suggesting it may participate in thymic development by inducing factors affecting its development.

Molecular cloning, characterization and tissue distribution of two ostrich β-defensins: AvBD2 and AvBD7.

Avian β-defensins (AvBDs) are a family of small antimicrobial peptides that play important roles in the innate immunity of birds. Herein, we report on two new ostrich AvBD genes, AvBD2 and AvBD7, which were isolated from the bone marrow of ostriches (Struthio camelus). The coding regions of ostrich AvBD2 and AvBD7 comprised 195 bp and 201bp, which encoded 64 and 66 amino acids, respectively. Homology analysis showed that ostrich AvBD2 had the highest similarity (up to 86%) with the swan goose (Anser cygnoides) AvBD2, while ostrich AvBD7 shared the highest similarity (up to 81%) with chicken AvBD7. Analysis of the codon-usage bias showed that the two ostrich AvBDs had different codon-usage patterns from other AvBDs. The two synthetic AvBD peptides exhibited antibacterial activities against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, and these activities decreased significantly in the presence of 100mM NaCl (P<0.01). Real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that AvBD2 and AvBD7 were widely expressed at different levels in 17 different tissues. This is the first report of the nucleotide sequences of ostrich AvBDs. Further investigations of these two AvBDs may help us to gain new insights into the immune defense system of the ostrich and to make subsequent therapeutic use of ostrich defensins.

Increased Thymic Cell Turnover under Boron Stress May Bypass TLR3/4 Pathway in African Ostrich

Previous studies revealed that thymus is a targeted immune organ in malnutrition, and high-boron stress is harmful for immune organs. African ostrich is the living fossil of ancient birds and the food animals in modern life. There is no report about the effect of boron intake on thymus of ostrich. The purpose of present study was to evaluate the effect of excessive boron stress on ostrich thymus and the potential role of TLR3/4 signals in this process. Histological analysis demonstrated that long-term boron stress (640 mg/L for 90 days) did not disrupt ostrich thymic structure during postnatal development. However, the numbers of apoptotic cells showed an increased tendency, and the expression of autophagy and proliferation markers increased significantly in ostrich thymus after boron treatment. Next, we examined the expression of TLR3 and TLR4 with their downstream molecular in thymus under boron stress. Since ostrich genome was not available when we started the research, we first cloned ostrich TLR3 TLR4 cDNA from thymus. Ostrich TLR4 was close to white-throated Tinamou. Whole avian TLR4 codons were under purify selection during evolution, whereas 80 codons were under positive selection. TLR3 and TLR4 were expressed in ostrich thymus and bursa of fabricius as was revealed by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). TLR4 expression increased with age but significantly decreased after boron treatment, whereas TLR3 expression showed the similar tendency. Their downstream molecular factors (IRF1, JNK, ERK, p38, IL-6 and IFN) did not change significantly in thymus, except that p100 was significantly increased under boron stress when analyzed by qRT-PCR or western blot. Taken together, these results suggest that ostrich thymus developed resistance against long-term excessive boron stress, possibly by accelerating intrathymic cell death and proliferation, which may bypass the TLR3/4 pathway. In addition, attenuated TLRs activity may explain the reduced inflammatory response to pathogens under boron stress.

Distribution and morphology of argyrophilic cells in the digestive tract of the African ostrich

We used light microscopy to elucidate the morphological features of argyrophilic cells in the digestive tract of the African ostrich (Struthio camelus). The results indicated that argyrophilic cells were found to be distributed among the epithelial cells of the mucosa or glands throughout the digestive tract, except for the esophagus; two types of argyrophilic cells were found; i.e., closed-type cells and cells with triangular or elongated shapes and with their apical cytoplasmic process in contact with the lumen (open-type cells); the greatest number of argyrophilic cells was found in the proventriculus, and the argyrophilic cell density gradually decreased from the proventriculus to the rectum; Furthermore, the number of argyrophilic cells in the duodenum and ileum was higher than that in the jejunum. This text still combined the characteristics that the argyrophilic cells in digestive tract of ostrich maybe related to different digestive function of different region and the basis of their morphology to carry on a discussion. It was speculated that argyrophilic cells in the digestive tract may have both endocrine and exocrine functions.

Genome-wide gene expression and DNA methylation differences in abnormally cloned and normally natural mating piglets

Many studies have proved that DNA methylation can regulate gene expression and further affect skeletal muscle growth and development of pig, whereas the mechanisms of how DNA methylation or gene expression alteration ultimately lead to phenotypical differences between the cloned and natural mating pigs remain elusive. This study aimed to investigate genome-wide gene expression and DNA methylation differences between abnormally cloned and normally natural mating piglets and identify molecular markers related to skeletal muscle growth and development in pig. The DNA methylation and genome-wide gene expression in the two groups of piglets were analysed through methylated DNA immunoprecipitation binding high-throughput sequencing and RNA sequencing respectively. We detected 1493 differentially expressed genes between the two groups, of which 382 genes were also differentially methylated. The results of the integrative analysis between DNA methylation and gene expression revealed that the DNA methylation levels showed a significantly negative and monotonic correlation with gene expression levels around the transcription start site of genes. By contrast, no notable monotonic correlation was observed in other regions. Furthermore, we identified some interesting genes and signalling pathways (e.g. myosin, heavy chain 7 and mammalian target of rapamycin) which possibly play essential roles in skeletal muscle growth and development. The results of this study provide insights into the relationship of DNA methylation with gene expression in newborn piglets and into the mechanisms in abnormally cloned animals through somatic cell nuclear transfer.

Molecular cloning, expression and bioactivity of B cell activating factor (BAFF) in African ostrich.

B cell activating factor (BAFF), which belongs to the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) family, is testified to play a critical role in B cell survival, proliferation, maturation and immunoglobulin secretion. In the present study, the cDNA of open reading frame (ORF) in African ostrich (Struthio camelus) BAFF (designated OsBAFF) was cloned by reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR). The OsBAFF gene encodes a 288-amino acid protein containing a predicted transmembrane domain and a putative furin protease cleavage site like BAFFs from chicken (cBAFF), quail (qBAFF), duck (dBAFF), goose (gBAFF) and dove (doBAFF). RT-PCR analysis showed that the OsBAFF gene is strongly expressed in the bursa of Fabricius, thymus, spleen, and bone marrow. The soluble OsBAFF had been cloned into pET28a. SDS-PAGE and Western blotting analysis confirmed that the soluble fusion protein His-OsBAFF was efficiently expressed in Escherichia coli Rosset (DE3). In vitro, purified OsBAFF was not only able to promote the survival of African ostrich bursal lymphocytes, but also able to co-stimulate proliferation of mouse splenic B cells. The expression of OsBAFF in lymphocyte cells was higher than the control after LPS stimulation. These findings indicated that OsBAFF plays an important role in survival and proliferation of African ostrich bursal lymphocytes, which may provide valuable information for research into the immune system of African ostrich and OsBAFF may serve as a potential immunologic factor for enhancing immunological efficacy in African ostrich and any other birds.