Proteomic Profiling and Function of NK Cell Receptors in Gallus Gallus

哺乳动物、鸟类和鱼类使用各种免疫防御系统来保护自己免受疾病侵袭。在这些细胞中，有一种特殊的白细胞，称为自然杀伤细胞(NK)，它能在早期识别感染的存在。NK细胞能够立即攻击受感染的细胞，并向免疫系统中的其他细胞寻求帮助。该项目概述的工作将促进对鸟类(以鸡为代表)中自然杀伤细胞(NK细胞)的了解。NK细胞使用显示在其表面的特定分子(受体)识别其他细胞(健康的和感染的)。初步研究表明，鸡NK细胞偏好的表面受体与哺乳动物和鱼类使用的受体略有不同。为了确定这些NK细胞受体的性质，将从鸡NK细胞中分离表面蛋白，并使用基本上无偏见的高通量系统进行分析，以识别受体蛋白。相应的基因将被克隆。受体将被表达，其配体将被识别。更广泛的影响：这些发现将有助于比较鸟类和哺乳动物产生的免疫反应，并可能有助于制定未来抗击疾病的战略，特别是那些由人和鸟共有的病毒引起的疾病。此外，该项目将支持几名高中、本科生和研究生的培训和教育，他们将学习各种细胞和分子生物学技术。

Mammals, birds and fish protect themselves from disease using a variety of immune defenses. Among these are special white blood cells called Natural Killer (NK) cells that recognize the presence of infection early on. NK cells are able to immediately attack infected cells and to call for help from other cells in the immune system. The work outlined in this project will advance understanding of natural killer (NK) cells in birds (represented by chicken). NK cells recognize other cells (healthy and infected) using specific molecules (receptors) displayed on their surfaces. Preliminary work suggests that the surface receptors preferred by chicken NK cells are somewhat different from those used in mammals and fish. To define the nature of these NK cell receptors surface proteins will be isolated from chicken NK cells and analyzed using an essentially unbiased high throughput system to identify receptor proteins. Corresponding genes will be cloned. Receptors will be expressed and their ligands will be identified. Broader Impacts: The findings will be useful in comparing the immune responses generated by birds to that of mammals, and it may be useful in developing future strategies to combat disease, particularly those caused by viruses shared between man and birds. Moreover, this project will support the training and education of several high school, undergraduate, and graduate students who will learn a variety of cell and molecular biology techniques.