title: Early cell-mediated immune responses to Marek's disease virus in two chicken lines with defined major histocompatibility complex antigens.
abstract: N2a and P2a chickens, resistant and susceptible to Marek's disease (MD), respectively, were used to examine relationships between major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-restricted cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) and natural killer (NK)-like cell activity with resistance to infection with Marek's disease virus (MDV). Ten-day-old chickens were infected with MDV and euthanatized at selected times to evaluate for NK cell and MHC-restricted cytotoxicity. The N2a MDV-infected chickens had an early cell-mediated immune response characterized by a sustained NK-like cytotoxicity that coincided with a measurable MHC-cytotoxicity that was lower than controls. Although MHC-restricted and NK cell cytotoxicity was demonstrated in P2a MDV-infected chickens at 8 dpi, both abruptly decreased and remained low for the remainder of the 20-day experiment. The critical time point that may determine the resistance to MD appears to be within the first 2 weeks post-infection. Improvement of the chicken NK cell activity may be a good candidate for both selection and immunomodulation MD control programs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Garcia-Camacho
authors.forename: Karel A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Schat
authors.forename: Randolph
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Brooks
authors.forename: Denise I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Bounous
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens / Q000276:immunology*; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic / Q000276:immunology; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004198:Disease Susceptibility / Q000276:immunology; D008381:Herpesvirus 2, Gallid / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D007111:Immunity, Cellular / Q000276:immunology; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology; D008285:Major Histocompatibility Complex / Q000276:immunology; D008380:Marek Disease / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D013047:Specific Pathogen-Free Organisms; D013154:Spleen / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral