Raw data of "Comparative analysis of ducks liver gene expressions infected with virulent or attenuated DHAV-3 reveals divergent host responses to viruses of different virulence"

This study aimed to characterize the host responses to virulent and attenuated DHAV-3 strains by comparative transcriptomic and protein-level analyses of infected duck livers via RNA sequencing and ELISA. Infection with the virulent HB strain induced 2,355 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in duck livers at 48 hours post-infection (hpi), in contrast to only 322 DEGs triggered by the attenuated HB80 vaccine strain. Functional enrichment analysis revealed markedly divergent expression profiles between the two strains. The HB strain robustly activated immune-related signaling pathways, especially the Toll-like receptor (TLR) and RIG-I-like receptor (RLR) pathways, eliciting a strong type I interferon (IFN-I) response and substantial upregulation of chemokines. In comparison, the HB80 strain provoked a considerably milder immune reaction. Among the DEGs, 77 immune-related genes were identified, predominantly enriched in the IFN-I signaling pathway, suggesting their potential role in initiating an interferon storm and subsequent chemokine upregulation. Key pathway components including IFN-α2, RSAD2, RIG-I, MDA5, TBK1, and TLR7 were identified as potential regulatory targets during DHAV-3 infection and were consistently validated at both transcriptional and protein levels by RT-qPCR and ELISA, respectively.

本研究旨在通过对感染鸭肝脏开展RNA测序（RNA sequencing）与酶联免疫吸附实验（ELISA）的比较转录组学和蛋白质水平分析，解析宿主对强毒型与减毒型鸭甲型肝炎病毒3型（DHAV-3）毒株的免疫应答特征。感染强毒HB毒株后，鸭肝脏在感染后48小时（hpi）可诱导产生2355个差异表达基因（DEGs）；而减毒HB80疫苗毒株仅诱导产生322个差异表达基因。功能富集分析结果显示，两种毒株诱导的基因表达谱存在显著差异。强毒HB毒株可强效激活免疫相关信号通路，尤其是Toll样受体（TLR）与RIG-I样受体（RLR）通路，引发强烈的I型干扰素（IFN-I）应答以及趋化因子的显著上调；相较而言，HB80毒株引发的免疫应答则显著较弱。在上述差异表达基因中，共鉴定出77个免疫相关基因，其中主要富集于I型干扰素信号通路，提示这些基因可能在干扰素风暴及后续趋化因子上调过程中发挥调控作用。包括IFN-α2、RSAD2、RIG-I、MDA5、TBK1及TLR7在内的关键通路分子，被鉴定为DHAV-3感染过程中的潜在调控靶点，并分别通过实时定量聚合酶链反应（RT-qPCR）与酶联免疫吸附实验（ELISA）在转录与蛋白质水平得到了一致验证。