Expression profiling of genes associated with regulatory functions of T-cell subsets in Marek's disease virus-infected chickens

The environment of tumours caused by Marek's disease virus (MDV) in chickens has been shown to have an immunoregulatory phenotype. The objective of the present study was to examine the expression of key T-regulatory markers during various stages of MDV pathogenesis. Specific-pathogen free (SPF) as well as major histocompatibility complex-defined chickens were infected with the RB1B and JM-16 strains of MDV, respectively. CD4+ and CD8+ T cells from the spleens of infected as well as age-matched controls were sorted by flow cytometry at 4, 10, and 21 days post infection (d.p.i.). The expression of molecules such as CTLA-4, IL-2aR (CD25), PD-1 and PDL-1 was quantified by real-time, quantitative, reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. There was an up-regulation of CTLA-4 in CD4+ T cells at 4 d.p.i. The expression of PD-1 was also up-regulated in the CD4+ T-cell subset of SPF birds at 21 d.p.i. Furthermore, the expression of PD-1 was enhanced in CD4+ and CD8+ T cells of genetically susceptible chickens, linking this molecule to susceptibility to disease. The expression of CD25 was down-regulated in both SPF and genetically defined birds after infection. This may be a mechanism through which the virus exerts its immunosuppressive effects. In conclusion, the results of the present study provide more insight into immunomodulatory processes that occur in the lymphoid tissues of MDV-infected chickens.