IFN-γ establishes interferon-stimulated gene-mediated antiviral state against Newcastle disease virus in chicken fibroblasts

Abstract

Newcastle disease virus (NDV) causes severe economic losses through severe morbidity and mortality and poses a significant threat to the global poultry industry. Significant efforts have been made to develop novel vaccines and therapeutics; however, the interaction of NDV with the host is not yet fully understood. Interferons (IFNs), an integral component of innate immune signaling, act as the first line of defense against invading viruses. Compared with the mammalian repertoire of IFNs, limited information is available on the antiviral potential of IFNs in chickens. Here, we expressed chicken IFN-γ (chIFN-γ) using a baculovirus expression vector system, characterized its antiviral potential against NDV, and determined its antiviral potential. Priming of chicken embryo fibroblasts with chIFN-γ elicited an antiviral environment in primary cells, which was mainly due to interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs). A genome-wide transcriptomics approach was used to elucidate the possible signaling pathways associated with IFN-γ-induced immune responses. RNAsequencing (RNA-seq) data revealed significant induction of ISG-associated pathways, activated temporal expression of ISGs, antiviral mediators, and transcriptional regulators in a cascade of antiviral responses. Collectively, we found that IFN-γ significantly elicited an antiviral response against NDV infection. These data provide a foundation for chIFN-γ-mediated antiviral responses and underpin functional annotation of these important chIFN-γ-induced antiviral influencers.

Evaluation of inhibitor activity of bacterial sialidase from Clostridium perfringens against Newcastle disease virus in the cell culture model using chicken embryo fibroblast

“…On the contrary, in IFN-α, there was a downregulation. Previous studies have shown that large amounts of IFN are produced by various host cells when infected with NDV [ 42 , 43 ].…”

Maternal stevioside supplementation improves intestinal immune function of chicken offspring potentially via modulating gut microbiota and down-regulating the promoter methylation level of suppressor of cytokine signaling 1 (SOCS1)

“…Both IFN-α and IFN-β belong to type І interferons, and they are crucial to the regulation of innate immune responses ( Ivashkiv and Donlin, 2014 ). IFN-γ is a vital mediator for the immunity of chickens with antimicrobial properties, and it also acts as a biomarker for the activation of the innate immune system ( Liu et al., 2009 ; Yang et al., 2020 ). In the early response to microbial infection, interferons may upregulate the transcription of antiviral genes to interrupt the viral replication, providing sufficient time for the immune response to develop ( Samuel, 2001 ).…”

Newcastle Disease Virus Vectored Chicken Infectious Anaemia Vaccine Induces Robust Immune Response in Chickens

“…IL-12 also induced IFN-γ production in this study and enhanced the CMI response as reported earlier [ 37 ]. Further, IFN-γ induced Th-1 response along with adjuvant activity as evidenced by Xin Yang et al, 2020 [ 38 ]. IL-4 expression induced increased antibody production in the vaccinated groups.…”