Cloning, expression and functional characterization of chicken CCR6 and its ligand CCL20.
Chemokines are key molecules that drive migration of lymphoid and myeloid cells toward organs in basal as well as inflammatory conditions. By recruiting immature dendritic cells to the mucosal surfaces, CCL20 acts in the very early events leading to the development of a specific immune response. In order to characterize dendritic cells in birds and better understand their role in the initiation of immune responses against pathogens of economic as well as human health relevance, we have cloned and expressed chicken CCL20 (chCCL20) and its specific receptor chCCR6. chCCL20 has 51% identity (60% similarity) with human CCL20, while the chicken receptor and its human counterpart display nearly 55% identity (and up to 70% similarity). chCCL20 and its specific receptor chCCR6 mRNAs are mainly expressed in bone marrow, secondary lymphoid organs and in the mucosal surfaces, in particular lungs and intestine. Both receptor and chemokine are functionally active when expressed as genuine or tagged proteins in mammalian expression systems, that is chCCR6 is mainly located at the cell surface within lipid rafts like its human counterpart. And secondly, both human and chicken chemokines were able to drive the migration of either chicken or human CCR6-transfected cells.
Munoz
Iciar
I
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, UR1282 Infectiologie Animale et Santé Publique, Site 213, F-37380 Nouzilly, France.
Berges
Magali
M
Bonsergent
Claire
C
Cormier-Aline
Fleur
F
Quéré
Pascale
P
Sibille
Pierre
P
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002460:Cell Line; D002465:Cell Movement; D054418:Chemokine CCL20 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D002645:Chickens / Q000235:genetics*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008024:Ligands; D021962:Membrane Microdomains / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D021381:Protein Transport; D054399:Receptors, CCR6 / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D014162:Transfection
D054418:Chemokine CCL20; D008024:Ligands; D054399:Receptors, CCR6; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins