Supplementary Material for: ERAP1 and PDE8A Are Downregulated in Cattle Protected against Bovine Tuberculosis

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is a zoonotic disease caused by Mycobacterium bovis
that is responsible for significant economic losses worldwide. In spite
of its relevance, the limited knowledge about the host immune responses
that provide effective protection against the disease has long hampered
the development of an effective vaccine. The identification of host
proteins with an expression that correlates with protection against bTB
would contribute to the understanding of the cattle defence mechanisms
against M. bovis infection. In this study, we found that ERAP1 and PDE8A were downregulated in vaccinated cattle that were protected from experimental M. bovis challenge. Remarkably, both genes encode proteins that have been negatively associated with immune protection against bTB.

牛结核病（Bovine tuberculosis，bTB）是一种由牛分枝杆菌（Mycobacterium bovis）引发的人畜共患病，在全球范围内造成了巨额经济损失。尽管该病的研究价值极高，但目前学界对介导有效抗该病免疫保护的宿主免疫应答机制仍所知有限，这长期阻碍了高效疫苗的研发进程。鉴定表达水平与抗bTB保护作用相关的宿主蛋白，将有助于深入阐明牛针对牛分枝杆菌感染的防御机制。本研究发现，在经实验性牛分枝杆菌攻毒后获得保护的免疫牛只中，ERAP1与PDE8A的表达均呈下调状态。值得注意的是，这两个基因编码的蛋白均被证实与抗bTB的免疫保护作用呈负相关。