Transcriptomic Analysis on Responses of Murine Lungs to Pasteurella multocida Infection

Abstract

<i>Pasteurella multocida</i> infection in cattle causes serious epidemic diseases and leads to great economic losses in livestock industry; however, little is known about the interaction between host and <i>P. multocida</i> in the lungs. To explore a fully insight into the host responses in the lungs during <i>P. multocida</i> infection, a mouse model of <i>Pasteurella</i> pneumonia was established by intraperitoneal infection, and then transcriptomic analysis of infected lungs was performed. <i>P. multocida</i> localized and grew in murine lungs, and induced inflammation in the lungs, as well as mice death. With transcriptomic analysis, approximately 10⁷ clean reads were acquired. 4236 differently expressed genes (DEGs) were detected during <i>P. multocida</i> infection, of which 1924 DEGs were up-regulated. By gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) enrichments, 5,303 GO enrichments and 116 KEGG pathways were significantly enriched in the context of <i>P. multocida</i> infection. Interestingly, genes related to immune responses, such as pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), chemokines and inflammatory cytokines, were significantly up-regulated, suggesting the key roles of these genes in <i>P. multocida</i> infection. Transcriptomic data showed that IFN-γ/IL-17-related genes were increased, which were validated by qRT-PCR, ELISA, and immunoblotting. Our study characterized the transcriptomic profile of the lungs in mice upon <i>Pasteurella</i> infection, and our findings could provide valuable information with respect to better understanding the responses in mice during <i>P. multocida</i> infection.