MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that contribute to host immune response as post-transcriptional regulation. The current study investigated the biological role of the chicken (Gallus gallus) microRNA-200a-3p (gga-miR-200a-3p), using 2 necrotic enteritis (NE) afflicted genetically disparate chicken lines, 6.3 and 7.2, as well as the mechanisms underlying the fundamental signaling pathways in chicken. The expression of gga-miR-200a-3p in the intestinal mucosal layer of NE-induced chickens, was found to be upregulated during NE infection in the disease-susceptible chicken line 7.2. To validate the target genes, we performed an overexpression analysis of gga-miR-200a-3p using chemically synthesized oligonucleotides identical to gga-miR-200a-3p, reporter gene analysis including luciferase reporter assay, and a dual fluorescence reporter assay in cultured HD11 chicken macrophage cell lines. Gga-miR-200a-3p was observed to be a direct transcriptional repressor of ZAK, MAP2K4, and TGFβ2 that are involved in mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway by targeting the 3′-UTR of their transcripts. Besides, gga-miR-200a-3p may indirectly affect the expression of protein kinases including p38 and ERK1/2 at both transcriptional and translational levels, suggesting that this miRNA may function as an important regulator of the MAPK signaling pathway. Proinflammatory cytokines consisting of IL-1β, IFN-γ, IL-12p40, IL-17A, and LITAF belonging to Th1 and Th17-type cytokines, were upregulated upon gga-miR-200a-3p overexpression. These findings have enhanced our knowledge of the immune function of gga-miR-200a-3p mediating the chicken immune response via regulation of the MAPK signaling pathway and indicate that this miRNA may serve as an important biomarker of diseases in domestic animals.

In the present study, we describe the cloning and functional characterization of chicken interleukin 26 (ChIL-26). ChIL-26, a member of the IL-10 cytokine family, induces the production of proinflammatory cytokines by T cells. The ChIL-26 cDNA encodes an 82-amino-acid protein whose amino acid sequence has 22.63, 46.31 and 43.15% homology with human IL-26, pig IL-26 and canary IL-26, respectively. ChIL-26 signals through a heterodimeric receptor complex composed of the IL-20R1 and IL-10R2 chains, which are expressed primarily in the CU91 T cell line as well as CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. Recombinant ChIL-26 protein induced Th1 cytokines (IL-16 and IFN-γ), Th2 cytokines (IL-4, IL-6 and IL-10), Th17 cytokines (IL-17A, IL-17D, and IL-17F), and chemokine transcripts (mainly CCL3, CCL4, CCL5, CCL20 and CXCL13) in the CU91 T cell line and in CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, however IL-18 was not expressed in the CU91 T cell line. Taken together, the data demonstrates that T cells express the functional ChIL-26 receptor complex and that ChIL-26 modulates T cell proliferation and proinflammatory gene expression. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of cloned ChIL-26. We evaluated its functional roles, particularly in the pathogenic costimulation of T cells, which may be significantly associated with the induction of cytokines.