Frontiers in Veterinary Science (Aug 2021)

Transcriptome Differences in Pig Tracheal Epithelial Cells in Response to Pasteurella Multocida Infection

  • Xueying Wang,
  • Xueying Wang,
  • Fei Wang,
  • Fei Wang,
  • Lin Lin,
  • Lin Lin,
  • Wan Liang,
  • Songtao Liu,
  • Songtao Liu,
  • Lin Hua,
  • Lin Hua,
  • Xiangru Wang,
  • Xiangru Wang,
  • Huanchun Chen,
  • Huanchun Chen,
  • Zhong Peng,
  • Zhong Peng,
  • Bin Wu,
  • Bin Wu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2021.682514
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8

Abstract

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Pasteurella multocida generally colonizes mammalian/bird respiratory tracts and mainly causes respiratory disorders in both humans and animals. To date, the effects of P. multocida infection on the respiratory epithelial barriers and molecules in host respiratory epithelial cells in their response to P. multocida infection are still not well-known. In this study, we used newborn pig tracheal epithelial (NPTr) cells as an in vitro model to investigate the effect of P. multocida infection on host respiratory epithelial barriers. By detecting the transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) values of NPTr cells and the expression of several known molecules associated with cell adherens and junctions, we found that P. multocida infection disrupted the barrier functions of NPTr cells. By performing RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq), we determined 30 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), including the vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) encoding gene VEGFA, which participated in biological processes (GO:0034330, GO:0045216, and GO:0098609) closely related to epithelial adhesion and barrier functions. These 30 DEGs participated in 22 significant signaling pathways with a p-value < 0.05, including the transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta signaling pathway (KEGG ID: ssc04350), hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) signaling pathway (KEGG ID: ssc04066), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor resistance (KEGG ID: ssc01521), tumor necrosis factor (TNF) signaling pathway (KEGG ID: ssc04668), and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway (KEGG ID: ssc04010), which are reported to have roles in contributing to the production of inflammatory factors as well as the regulation of epithelial adhesion and barrier function in other tissues and organisms. The results presented in this study may help improve our understanding of the pathogenesis of P. multocida.

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