Expression of Innate and Adaptive Immune Response Genes in Goat Neutrophils

The Goat Capra hiricus is the first domesticated ruminant and is globally distributed. Evidence exists for genomic diversity, cell specific gene expression profiles are lacking. Gene expression in goat neutrophils can impact the response to bacterial pathogens and is associated with inflammatory diseases. The objectives of this study were to determine the expression of genes associated with innate immunity in neutrophils isolated from goat peripheral blood. Blood was collected from 3 goats and 3 cows and used to isolate neutrophils. Isolated neutrophils were treated with 100 ug of LPS or maintained in PBS. RNA was isolated from neutrophils or whole blood using Tri-reagent and then reverse-transcribed to cDNA using the Ambion-Retroscript kit. The Human Innate & Adaptive Immune Responses RT² Profiler™ PCR Array (SABiosciences) was used to profile the expression of 84 genes involved in the host response to bacterial infection and sepsis. Goat neutrophils expressed innate and adaptive immune response genes. Treatment with LPS resulted in increased differential expression of genes related to pathogen detection in the IL-1R and Toll-like Receptor (TLR) signaling pathways. The highest fold changes were observed for IL-1R, TLR 1, 4, 6 and 10. Genes expressed included those involved in the acute-phase response, complement activation, the inflammatory response, and the antibacterial humoral response. These genes may serve as therapeutic targets and need further characterization. Further, this simple cross hybridization approach may be useful in studying goat gene expression and aid in understanding mechanisms important for health and production.