College of Agriculture & Natural Resources

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    DIFFERENTIATION AND REGULATION OF BOVINE TH2 CELLS
    (2024) Kandel, Anmol; Xiao, Zhengguo Zhengguo; Animal Sciences; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Memory CD4+ T cells, specifically type-2 (Th2) cells, are pivotal in defending against infections caused by extracellular pathogens, including several economically important parasites. However, whether interleukin-4 (IL4) expression is a signature feature of bovine Th2 cells likewise in mice and humans is unclear. Pasture-raised cattle, routinely exposed to extracellular parasites such as Ostertagia ostertagi (OO), are likely to develop a typical Th2 memory response. Therefore, using cytokine induction assay, we evaluated the circulatory memory bovine T cell profile of these cattle and also analyzed if the expression of presumptuous memory marker, CD45RO, is reliable in identifying memory bovine T cells. Surprisingly, the majority of the memory CD4+ T cells dominantly produced interferon-gamma (IFNγ), with only a small fraction co-expressing IL4, and memory bovine T cell identification did not correlate with CD45RO expression. Results suggested that cattle naturally exposed to extracellular parasites do not develop typically IL4 dominant Th2 response. To further investigate these results, resting CD4+ T cells isolated from healthy cattle blood were cultured under simple in vitro Th2 culture. Analysis of differentiated cells through flow cytometry revealed limited IL4 protein detection, which was in line with the lack of upregulation of IL4 and its master regulator GATA3 transcripts shown by the quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay. To validate whether differentiated cells were actually Th2, unbiased proteomic analysis was conducted. Based on differentially expressed 397 proteins between differentiated cells and naïve phenotype, bovine Th2 differentiation was validated; nonetheless, the process was not found to be associated with IL4 induction. Moreover, despite using published strategies from mice and humans, such as reducing T cell receptor (TCR) stimulation strength and adding exogenous recombinant bovine IL4, the expression of IL4 could not be significantly enhanced. Interestingly, differentiated bovine Th2 cells proliferated in the presence of OO antigens, suggesting that extracellular parasites could influence bovine Th2 differentiation, at least in vitro. To validate the results from pathogen-infected tissues and in vitro culture, a panel of anti-parasitic CD4+ single T cell clones was established from five pasture-raised cattle that were infected with OO. Evaluation of memory responses exhibited by the anti-parasitic CD4+ single T cell clones strongly supported IFNγ dominant memory response, and only 20% of them co-expressed IL4 through a small subset of IFN γ + cells. All the data pointed out that bovine CD4+ T cell differentiation is partially distinct from those in mice and humans, and IL4 expression is not a hallmark feature of the bovine Th2 cells.
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    Development of avian paramyxovirus 3 as a vaccine vector against infectious bursal disease in one-day-old specific pathogen free chickens
    (2021) Varghese, Berin Parambethu; Zhu, Xiaoping; Veterinary Medical Science; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    ABSTRACTInfectious bursal disease (IBD) is an acute, highly contagious, immunosuppressive disease affecting young chickens, resulting in substantial economic losses to the poultry industry worldwide. Although strict hygienic measures and various vaccination strategies have been adopted, IBD remains a major problem for the poultry industry. The economic significance of this disease is exhibited in two ways. First, the disease can cause high morbidity and mortality. Second, severe prolonged immunosuppression of chickens when infected at an early age leads to susceptibility to other diseases and vaccination failure. Therefore, chicks should be protected from early infection, usually achieved by vaccinating breeder flocks and active immunization of the newly hatched chicks. Vaccines include live-attenuated, viral vectored recombinant, subunit, and inactivated vaccines currently available to control infectious bursal disease (IBD). The major flaws of available vaccines are the reversion to virulence, the generation of new variant viruses, inability to replicate in the presence of maternal antibodies, lack of proper delivery systems, recombination and integration into the host genome, and inadequate systemic immune response. To overcome these obstacles, we have evaluated avian paramyxoviruses (APMVs) as vaccine vectors to generate vaccines against IBD. In the present study, we constructed recombinant Newcastle disease virus (NDV) strain LaSota (rLaSota/VP2) and recombinant avian paramyxovirus-3 (APMV-3) strain Netherlands expressing VP2 protein (rAPMV-3/VP2), the immunogenic protein of IBDV, and to evaluate their protective efficacies following immunization of one-day-old specific pathogen-free (SPF) chicks. Our results showed that both recombinant viruses stably express the VP2 protein, and their in vitro growth characteristics were almost similar to their respective parental viruses. Immunization of one-day-old SPF chicks demonstrated that rAPMV-3/VP2 protein elicited IBDV specific neutralizing antibodies and provided complete protection against the IBDV STC challenge. In addition, the rAPMV-3/VP2 protects chickens from clinical signs, gross lesions, and histopathology even at lower vaccine doses. Moreover, rAPMV-3/VP2 provides slightly better protection than the commercial vaccine from histopathology lesion against IBD at four weeks of age. This study suggests that recombinant APMV-3 expressing VP2 protein could be used as a potential vaccine against IBD in field conditions where maternal antibodies exist.
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    Genome changes due to artificial selection in U.S. Holstein cattle
    (Springer Nature, 2019-02-11) Ma, Li; Sonstegard, Tad S.; Cole, John B.; VanTassell, Curtis P.; Wiggans, George R.; Crooker, Brian A.; Tan, Cheng; Prakapenka, Dzianis; Liu, George E.; Da, Yang
    The availability of a unique unselected Holstein line since 1964 provided a direct comparison between selected and unselected Holstein genomes whereas large Holstein samples provided unprecedented statistical power for identifying high-confidence SNP effects. Utilizing these unique resources, we aimed to identify genome changes affected by selection since 1964.
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    CHARACTERIZATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF REVERSE GENETICS SYSTEM FOR AVIAN PARAMYXOVIRUS TYPE-3 AND ITS EVALUATION AS A LIVE VIRAL VECTOR
    (2010) Kumar, Sachin; Samal, Siba K; Veterinary Medical Science; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Avian Paramyxovirus (APMV) serotype 3 is one of the nine serotypes of APMV that infect a variety of avian species around the world. In chickens and turkeys, APMV-3 causes respiratory illness and drop in egg production. To understand the molecular characteristics of APMV-3, the complete genome sequences of prototype strain Netherlands and strain Wisconsin were determined. The genome length of APMV-3 strain Netherlands is 16,272 and for strain Wisconsin is 16,181 nucleotides (nt). Each genome consists of six non-overlapping genes in the order 3'N-P/V/W-M-F-HN-L5' similar to most of APMVs. Comparison of the APMV-3 strain Wisconsin nt and the aggregate predicted amino acid (aa) sequences with those of APMV-3 strain Netherlands revealed 67 and 78%, identity, respectively. The phylogenetic and serological analyses of APMV-3 strains Netherlands and Wisconsin indicated the existence of two subgroups within the same serotype. Both the strains were found to be avirulent for chickens by mean death time and intracerebral pathogenicity test. To further study the molecular biology and pathogenesis of APMV-3, a reverse genetics system for strain Netherlands was established in which infectious recombinant APMV-3 was recovered from a cloned APMV-3 antigenomic cDNA. The recovered recombinant virus showed in vitro growth characteristics and in vivo pathogenicity similar to parental virus. A recombinant APMV-3 expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein was also recovered, suggesting its potential use as a vaccine vector. Furthermore, generation and characterization of recombinant APMV-3 expressing Newcastle disease virus (NDV) F and HN proteins demonstrated that the F protein plays a major role in protection against virulent NDV challenge. Overall, the study conducted here has several downstream applications. The complete genome sequence of APMV-3 is useful in designing diagnostic reagents and in epidemiological studies. The reverse genetics system for APMV-3 would be of considerable utility for introducing defined mutations into the genome of this virus and developing a vaccine vector for animal and human pathogens.