Elucidating the Mechanisms Involved in the Regulation of Innate Antiviral Responses against Respiratory Pathogens in Chickens

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The poultry industry has a significant impact on the economy of Canada. However, the poultry industry is constantly at the risk of infectious diseases, including viral infections, which cause a high level of morbidity, even widespread mortality in poultry, and economic losses. There are several high priorities, economically important poultry viruses across Canada, including infectious bronchitis virus (IBV). Avian infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) is a highly contagious virus that causes mid-severe respiratory infections in chickens. Since 2017, several layer flocks have been slaughtered in Quebec and Ontario because of the false layer syndrome and significant decline in egg production. Flock depopulation and a severe decrease in egg production, secondary bacterial infections of the respiratory system following IBV infection cause significant economic losses to the poultry industry. One of the reasons for the unsuccessful attempts to control IBV infection is the gap in knowledge of host-virus interaction and viral pathogenesis at the molecular and cellular level. This research program addresses the interactions between the host and the virus. This program will focus on mechanisms that are crucial turning points in shaping antiviral immune responses and the outcome of viral infections. In fact, the effective elimination of viral infections depends on the coordinated communication between different cells of the immune system. Elucidating mechanisms involved in the cross-talk between different cells of the immune system is going to be a critical step to reach the ultimate goal of successfully enhance and tailor innate responses to shape adaptive immunity. To this end, the initial focus is on the dynamics of antiviral responses during IBV infection in the tracheal epithelial cells. Subsequently, the emphasis will be on the communication and cross-talk of tracheal epithelial cells with immune cells. We hypothesized that tracheal epithelial cells coordinate antiviral responses in the respiratory system during viral infection by influencing other cells of the immune system, which significantly affects the outcome of the infection. The proposed studies will provide fundamental and new insights into the immunological mechanisms of chicken tracheal epithelial cells in response to the infectious bronchitis virus. Furthermore, the discovery of underlying mechanisms involved in the initiation of antiviral responses and their impact on the adaptive immune responses provide the base information to improve current strategies and approaches to enhance mucosal and general immune responses.