[Objectives]This study aimed to investigate the effect of Armadillo/β-catenin like repeat containing protein(EmARM-β),a Th1 cytokine stimulatory molecule from Eimeria maxima on functions of chicken immune-related cells.[Methods]In this study,chicken peripheral blood mononuclear cell(PBMC),CD8+T cells,and CD4+CD25-T cells were isolated by density gradient cell centrifugation method and immunomagnetic bead sorting method,respectively.Subsequently,EmARM-β recombinant protein(rEmARM-β)was incubated with the above cells in vitro,CCK-8 solution and qPCR were used to detect and analyze the effects on the proliferation ability of the above cells and the secretion levels of cytokines,respectively.[Results]The results showed that purity of chicken CD8+T cells and CD4+CD25-T cells were 93.01%and 88.88%,respectively.rEmARM-β significantly enhanced the proliferation capacity,upregulated Th1 type cytokines(ifn-γ,and il-2)and proinflammatory cytokines(il-1β,il-6,and il-17a)mRNA levels in chicken PBMC compared with the control group.Effective stimulations of rEmARM-β on the cell proliferation capacity and mRNA levels of ifn-γ,il-2,tnf-α,perforin,fasl,and fas in chicken CD8+ T cells were also observed.The molecule significantly promoted cell proliferation capacity,upregulated the mRNA levels of ifn-γ and il-2,and downregulated the mRNA levels of il-4 and il-10 in chicken CD4+CD25-T cells.[Conclusions]EmARM-β,the Th1 cytokine stimulatory molecule,could effectively promote cell proliferation,secretions of Th1 cytokines and proinflammatory cytokines of chicken PBMC and T cell subsets,suggesting the EmARM-β is the potential candidate antigen to develop novel vaccine against chicken coccidiosis.
Eimeria maximaTh1 type cytokine stimulatory moleculeEmARM-βT cell subsetsimmune function