Comparative transcriptome analyses of immune responses to LPS in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from the giant panda, human, mouse, and monkey

Shun Li; Caiwu Li; Lixiang Chen; Hua Yang; Xiaonan Ren; Chunhua Xu; Bin Wu; Chao Wang; Yun Ling; Yinzhong Shen; Hongzhou Lu; Weiping Liu; Xiaohui Zhou

doi:10.3389/fgene.2022.1053655

Comparative transcriptome analyses of immune responses to LPS in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from the giant panda, human, mouse, and monkey

Front Genet. 2023 Jan 6:13:1053655. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2022.1053655. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Shun Li¹, Caiwu Li², Lixiang Chen¹, Hua Yang¹, Xiaonan Ren¹, Chunhua Xu¹, Bin Wu¹, Chao Wang¹, Yun Ling³, Yinzhong Shen⁴, Hongzhou Lu⁵, Weiping Liu², Xiaohui Zhou¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Animal Model, Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
² Key Laboratory of State Forestry and Grassland Administration on Conservation Biology of Rare Animals in the Giant Panda National Park, China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda, Dujiangyan, Sichuan, China.
³ Department of Infectious Disease, Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
⁴ Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
⁵ Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Immunity, National Clinical Research Center for infectious disease, State Key Discipline of Infectious Disease, The Third People's Hospital of Shenzhen, Second Hospital Affiliated to Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.

Abstract

Gram-negative bacteria are major pathogens that can cause illnesses in giant pandas. Lipopolysaccharides (LPS), components of Gram-negative bacteria, can activate immune responses in mammals (i.e., humans and mice) through recognition by toll-like receptors (TLRs). However, the giant pandas' immune response to LPS stimulation and the differences between the giant panda and other mammals are not fully known. In this study, we administrated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from giant pandas, humans, C57BL/6 mice, and rhesus monkeys by LPS treatment at 6 h followed by RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), respectively, with control of non-stimulation. KEGG analyses of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) pathways indicated that LPS could activate the classic signaling pathway of NF-κB in PBMCs from those four tested species. Thus, similar to the other three species, NF-κB is an LPS-responsive regulator of innate immune responses in giant pandas. Furthermore, the expression patterns of adapter genes, inflammatory cytokine genes, chemokines, interferon genes, cytokine genes related to cell growth and development, costimulatory molecules, Th1/Th2 cytokine genes, Th17 cytokine genes, Th9, and Th22 cytokine genes were compared among giant pandas and three other species. Our data indicated that in addition to the similar expression patterns of certain genes among giant pandas and other species, the unique expression pattern response to LPS in giant pandas was also discovered. Furthermore, Th9, Th17, and Th22 cells might be involved in the response to LPS in giant pandas at this tested time point. This study reveals that LPS-induced immune responses have different sensitivities and response timelines in giant pandas compared with other mammals. This study facilitates further understanding of the role of the TLR signaling pathway and the immune system in giant pandas, which might be helpful for disease prevention and protection.

Keywords: LPS; PBMCs; comparative transcriptome analyses; giant panda; immune responses.