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MOLECULAR, CELLULAR, AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY |

* Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences, and
Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg 24061
1 Corresponding author: esmith{at}vt.edu
| ABSTRACT |
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Key Words: turkey cardiomyopathy cardiac troponin T phospholamban reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction
| INTRODUCTION |
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In commercial turkeys, a prevalent circulatory problem is dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM; Frame et al., 1999). Dilated cardiomyopathy is a myocardial disease characterized by enlarged ventricles, cavity dilatation, and systolic and diastolic dysfunction (Fatkin and Graham, 2002). Affected young poults have ruffled feathers, drooping wings, and unthrifty appearance (Czarnecki et al., 1973). Clinical symptoms of DCM including dyspnea, weakness, and edema have been reported to be associated with heart failure, which may cause sudden death if severe, resulting in economic loss to producers (Fatkin and Graham, 2002). In commercial turkeys, it has been estimated that DCM causes early death at a rate of 2 to 4% as well as weight loss in birds between 2 and 4 wk of age (Frame et al., 1999; Zepeda and Kooyman, 2002).
Although the etiology of DCM is poorly understood, factors that have been implicated in the incidence and severity of DCM can be either genetic or environmental. The environmental factors include nutrition, management, pathogens, stress, and toxins (Frame et al., 1999; Poller et al., 2005). Furazolidone (Fz), a drug normally used to treat enteritis and diarrhea, has been shown to induce DCM in turkeys younger than 5 wk of age at toxic levels (Ali, 1989; White, 1989). When fed diets containing 700 ppm of Fz for 2 to 3 wk, poults between 2 and 4 wk of age develop DCM (Genao et al., 1996). Characteristics of affected birds include increased heart volumes, left ventricular dilation, and fractional shortening as well as altered membrane transport (Hajjar et al., 1993). In gross morphology, these characteristics are similar to those observed in birds and humans affected by idiopathic DCM (IDCM). Additional similarities include altered Ca2+ metabolism and alterations to the ß receptor-adenylyl cyclase signaling system.
Investigations of the genetic basis of IDCM have included identifying candidate genes. From these investigations, at least 18 genes have been reported (Durand, 1999) to influence spontaneous DCM including phospholamban (PLN) and cardiac troponin T (cTNT). Phospholamban is involved in regulating calcium uptake in the sarcoplasmic reticulum. Mutations in PLN, as expected, have been reported to affect calcium transport in cells leading to abnormal myocardial function (Liew and Dazu, 2004; Schmitt et al., 2003). Schwinger et al. (1995) used Western and Northern blot analyses to compare protein and transcripts levels of PLN in human nonfailing and failing heart tissues, respectively. They reported that in DCM-affected hearts, PLN transcripts but not protein levels were lower. Like PLN, cTnT is a candidate gene for DCM because of its role in myofibril calcium sensitivity. Mutations in cTnT change the sensitivity of myofilaments to calcium. In both turkey and human hearts, abnormal splicing of multiple exons of cTnT has been associated with the incidence of DCM (Biesiadecki et al., 2004). The primary objective of the current study was to examine the differences between normal and Fz-induced affected turkey poults in mRNA levels of cTnT and PLN genes.
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
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Birds were scanned each week for DCM by echocardiography as described by Gyenai (2005). Birds were selected for tissue collection based on left ventricular end diastolic and systolic dimensions. These parameters have previously been shown to be consistent indicators of DCM (Gyenai, 2005). Both heart and liver from control and treatment birds were collected at 7 and 14 d of age. Once the tissues were collected, they were washed in PBS and snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen followed by storage at 80°C before use for RNA isolation.
Total RNA Isolation
Total RNA from both heart and liver tissue samples was extracted by using the RNeasy Midi kit according to the manufacturers recommended protocol (Qiagen Inc., Valencia, CA). The RNA concentrations were determined using the Agilent BioAnalyzer 2100 and RNA quality was verified by electrophoresis on 1% formaldehyde agarose gel. The RNA samples were treated with DNase (Qiagen Inc.) to break down genomic DNA.
Primer Design and Selection
To develop primers, we used the turkey cTnT and chicken PLN (Toyofuku and Zak, 1991) mRNA GenBank sequences with accession numbers of AF005139
[GenBank]
and NM_205410
[GenBank]
, respectively. Turkey ß-actin (GenBank accession number NM_205518
[GenBank]
) was used as a housekeeping gene. Primers were designed using the web-based computer program Primer 3 (Rozen and Skaletsky, 1997). To maximize the use of exons to design primers that do not bind to genomic DNA, particularly PLN for which there was no turkey gene or cDNA sequence, sequences from multiple species were compared using CLUSTAL-W.
Primers were obtained from MWG (High Point, NC) and optimized for annealing temperature and reaction conditions using the FailSafe PCR PreMix Selection kit (Epicentre Inc., Madison, WI). The optimization of PCR for the chicken PLN-derived primers was carried out in a total volume of 25 µL containing 100 ng of genomic DNA, 50 pmol of each primer, 12.5 µL of FailSafe PCR 2X Pre Mix, and 1.25 units of FailSafe PCR Enzyme Mix. The optimization of the cycling reactions were as follows: denaturation at 95°C for 5 min, followed by 40 cycles of 95°C for 45 s, annealing temperature of between 52 and 62°C for 45 s, and extension at 70 C for 45s. The PCR products were analyzed on a 2% agarose gel and stained with SYBR green.
Reverse Transcription PCR and Sequence Analysis
Total RNA (1 µg) was transcribed to cDNA using the BioRad I-script cDNA synthesis kit (BioRad, Hercules, CA) in a total volume of 20 µL. Negative controls were processed with the samples to test for nonspecific reverse transcription or amplification. Reactions consisted of 300 nM sense and antisense primers (Table 1
). The PCR amplification was initiated by heating at 95°C for 3 min, followed by 40 cycles of the following conditions: 10 s at 95°C, 15 s at annealing temperature (Table 1
), and 20 s at 72°C. A standard curve was developed for ß-actin, the reference gene, and for each of the 2 genes evaluated. The relative amount of the PLN and cTnT transcripts was computed using the slope of each curve. Products from reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) were analyzed on a 2% agarose gel containing ethidium bromide.
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Statistical Analyses
The RT-PCR data were normalized to the reference gene (ß-actin) and calibrated to the control group by the 2
CT method (Livak and Schmittgen, 2001), where 
CT = (CT, Target CT, ß-actin) (CT, Calibrator CT, ß-actin). The converted data were analyzed using the MIXED procedure of SAS (SAS Institute, 20022003). The model included age (7 or 14 d) and group (affected or unaffected) as main effects and test of appropriate 2-way interactions. The results were expressed as mean ± standard deviation. Differences were considered significant if P < 0.05.
| RESULTS AND DISCUSSION |
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The sequences of the turkey ß-actin and cTnT amplicons showed 99.9 to 100% similarity to the reference sequences in GenBank. The sequence of the chicken PLN-based turkey amplicon showed 98% similarity with the reference chicken PLN cDNA sequence and between 81 and 89% similarity with the PLN mRNA sequence of other species (Table 4
). The turkey PLN sequence has been submitted to GenBank and the assigned accession number is DQ_388452. The binding of the primers, the sequence of the RT-PCR amplicon, and the phylogenetic comparisons provide strong evidence that the sequence may be a partial turkey PLN sequence of 124 bp (Table 4
).
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The PLN gene, implicated in DCM in various species, encodes the PLN protein that regulates the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ pump and controls the size of the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ store during diastole. Our use of the Gallus gallus PLN sequence to evaluate the mRNA level of this gene in the turkey is similar to studies in humans and other species previously described by McTiernan et al. (1999). These investigations relied on regions of the PLN gene that are conserved in many species (Koss and Kranias, 1996). This conservation has made it easier to evaluate PLN in many species, including the dog as recently described by Stabej et al. (2005). Their work showed no association between PLN expression and DCM in dogs. That PLN expression was not found to be significant also appears to be consistent with previous reports of inconsistent association between PLN expression and DCM. For example, overexpression of cardiac PLN in transgenic mice was shown by Dash et al. (2001) to lead to a late-onset type of cardiomyopathy. In humans, however, mRNA expression of PLN decreased significantly (67%) in failing hearts caused by idiopathic DCM. In affected individuals, low levels of PLN mRNA were observed in smooth muscle organs and little or no expression in nonmuscle organs (Schwinger et al., 1995).
Cardiac TnT encodes a protein that is the central subunit of the troponin complex in the thin filament. This protein plays an important role in the sensitivity of the myofilaments to Ca2+ during striated muscle contraction. Abnormalities of this protein caused by mutations disrupt the Ca2+ kinetics in the cell, thus causing myopathy (Venkatraman et al., 2005). Biesiadecki and Jin (2002) reported that an unusually low molecular weight cTnT protein in IDCM-affected turkeys was due to a mutation that causes aberrant splicing in exon 8 of the gene.
In summary, the present work describes the first investigation of levels of PLN and cTnT mRNA in TIDCM-affected turkeys. Our results suggest that the mRNA level of cTnT, but not PLN, is altered in turkeys with Fz-induced DCM. The results and the partial PLN sequence produced in this study provide a foundation for future investigations into DCM in the turkey. Additionally, because the cTnT gene encodes a protein that is a component of the cellular cytoskeleton, it suggests a molecular mechanism similar to that in IDCM. Although the mRNA level of PLN was not different in TIDCM, the sudden death syndrome and arrhythmia observed in TIDCM make this gene an important candidate for further investigations. The cDNA sequence first described here provides an opportunity to evaluate PLN, a gene involved in calcium transport by coding for a calcium channel, in both IDCM and TIDCM in the turkey.
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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Received for publication May 22, 2006. Accepted for publication July 27, 2006.
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