Effect Of Cold Stress On Heat Shock Proteins And Immune Function Of Small Intestine In Chicken

Cold stress is the most common stress factor to the animals in the cold region. Studies havedemonstrated that cold stress could affect the health and welfare of animals. When living organismsare exposed to various stress conditions, the synthesis of most proteins is retarded, but a group ofhighly conserved proteins known as heat shock proteins is rapidly synthesized.As the experimental animals, chickens with treatment acute and chronic cold stress (12±1℃)to investigate the effect of cold stress on the expression of heat shock proteins in chicken tissue byreal-time PCR and western blot and to detected the effect of cold stress on immune function inchicken small intestine by real-time PCR. The results showed as follows:1. Fusion proteins of Hsp90, Hsp70, and Hsp60were expressed in prokaryotic system. Thepolyclonal antibodies were prepared by using expressed fusion proteins.2. The expression of Hsp90, Hsp70, Hsp60, Hsp40, and Hsp27had an increasd trend in mostorganizations in acute and chronic cold stress groups, but in some organizations the Hspsexpression were decreased. The expressions of Hsp90, Hsp70, and Hsp40in spleen at acute coldstress, the expressions of Hsp60and Hsp40in thymus, and the expressions of Hsp90in heart atacute and chronic cold stress were all decreased. The results showed that the cold stress causeddifferent expressions of Hsps in various organs and tissues, which indicated the different roles ofHsps in various organs and tissues. Hsp90can serve as the candidate biological indicators ofmyocardial injury.3. Acute and chronic cold stress could influence the mRNA expression of IgM, IgA, IgG, plgR,TGF-β4, IL-4and IL-10. The expression levels of IgM, IgA, IgG, IL-4, and plgR were increased inacute and chronic cold stress, especially plgR that was markedly increased in the duodenum thanjejunum and ileum in the acute cold stress. Additionally, the mRNA expression of TGF-β4andIL-10had a first increased then decreased tendency in acute and chronic cold stress groups. Theresults showed that cold stress could cause the change of immune function in chicken intestine.In conclusion, the present study suggested that cold stress could influence the expression ofHsps in chicken tissues and the immune function in small intestinal. The Hsps expressions wereupregulated in chicken tissues, and cold stress could cause the damage in chicken tissue anddecreased immunity. Hsps regulated the normal function of organization and responsed to damage caused by the cold stress in the chicken tissues. This study would provide the theoretical basis andexperimental evidence to the cold stress mechanisms.