@article{8113,
  keywords = {Amino Acid Sequence, Animals, Antibodies, Armadillos, Base Sequence, Cell Proliferation, DNA, Complementary, Gene Expression, Humans, Indoleamine-Pyrrole 2,3,-Dioxygenase, Interferon-gamma, Macrophages, Molecular Sequence Data, Mycobacterium leprae, Nitrites, Protein Isoforms, Recombinant Proteins, Sequence Alignment, Sequence Homology, Amino Acid},
  author = {Peña M T and Adams J E and Adams L B and Gillis T P and Williams D L and Spencer J S and Krahenbuhl J L and Truman R W},
  title = {Expression and characterization of recombinant interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) from the nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) and its effect on Mycobacterium leprae-infected macrophages.},
  abstract = {<p>Armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus) manifest the full histopathological spectrum of leprosy, and are hosts of choice for in vivo propagation of Mycobacterium leprae. Though potentially useful as a model of leprosy pathogenesis, few armadillo-specific reagents exist. We have identified a region of high homology to the interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) of other mammals within the recently published armadillo whole genomic sequence. cDNA was made from ConA-stimulated armadillo peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), amplified, and cloned into a pET expression vector for transformation and over-expression in Escherichia coli. The recombinant protein (rDnIFN-gamma) was characterized by western blot and its biological function confirmed with bioassays including intracellular killing of Toxoplasma gondii and induction of indoleamine 2, 3-dioxygenase activity. In using rIFN-gamma to activate macrophages from mice, humans or armadillos, similar to humans, rIFN-gamma-activated armadillo MPhi did not produce nitrite and or inhibit the viability of M. leprae in vitro. Conversely, murine rIFN-gamma-activated mouse MPhi produced high levels of nitrite and killed intracellular M. leprae in vitro. These data indicate that the response of armadillo MPhi to rDnIFN-gamma is similar to that which occurs in humans, and demonstrates a potentially important value of the armadillo as a model in leprosy research.</p>},
  year = {2008},
  journal = {Cytokine},
  volume = {43},
  pages = {124-31},
  month = {2008 Aug},
  issn = {1096-0023},
  doi = {10.1016/j.cyto.2008.04.014},
  language = {eng},
}