Understanding Streptococcus suis serotype 2 infection in pigs through a transcriptional approach

Background: Streptococcus suis serotype 2 (S. suis 2) is an important pathogen of pigs. S suis 2 infections have high mortality rates and are characterized by meningitis, septicemia and pneumonia. S. suis 2 is also an emerging zoonotic agent and can infect humans that are exposed to pigs or their by-products. To increase our knowledge of the pathogenesis of meningitis, septicemia and pneumonia in pigs caused by S. suis 2, we profiled the response of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), brain and lung tissues to infection with S. suis 2 strain SC19 using the Affymetrix Porcine Genome Array. Results: A total of 3,002 differentially expressed transcripts were identified in the three tissues, including 417 unique genes in brain, 210 in lung and 213 in PBMC. These genes showed differential expression (DE) patterns on analysis by visualization and integrated discovery (DAVID). The DE genes involved in the immune response included genes related to the inflammatory response (CD163), the innate immune response (TLR2, TLR4, MYD88, TIRAP), cell adhesion (CD34, SELE, SELL, SELP, ICAM-1, ICAM-2, VCAM-1), antigen processing and presentation (MHC protein complex) and angiogenesis (VEGF), together with genes encoding cytokines (interleukins). Five selected genes were validated by qRT-PCR analysis. Conclusions: We studied the response to infection with S. suis 2 strain SC19 by microarray analysis. Our findings confirmed some genes identified in previous studies and discovered numerous additional genes that potentially function in S. suis 2 infections in vivo. This new information will form the foundation of future investigations into the pathogenesis of S. suis.