Blastocyst complementation generates exogenous donor-derived liver in ahepatic pigs.

Liver diseases are one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Globally, liver diseases are responsible for approximately 2 million deaths annually (1 of every 25 deaths). Many of the patients with chronic liver diseases can benefit from organ transplantation.

CD8 lymphocytes but not B lymphocytes are required for protection against chronic hepatitis E virus infection in chickens.

Hepatitis E is an important global disease, causing outbreaks of acute hepatitis in many developing countries and sporadic cases in industrialized countries. Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection typically causes self-limiting acute hepatitis but can also progress to chronic disease in immunocompromised individuals. The immune response necessary for the prevention of chronic infection is T cell-dependent; however, the arm of cellular immunity responsible for this protection is not currently known.

Unraveling the role of B cells in the pathogenesis of an oncogenic avian herpesvirus.

Marek's disease virus (MDV) is a highly oncogenic alphaherpesvirus that causes immunosuppression, paralysis, and deadly lymphomas in chickens. In infected animals, B cells are efficiently infected and are thought to amplify the virus and transfer it to T cells. MDV subsequently establishes latency in T cells and transforms CD4 T cells, resulting in fatal lymphomas.

Chickens with humanized immunoglobulin genes generate antibodies with high affinity and broad epitope coverage to conserved targets.

Transgenic animal platforms for the discovery of human monoclonal antibodies have been developed in mice, rats, rabbits and cows. The immune response to human proteins is limited in these animals by their tolerance to mammalian-conserved epitopes. To expand the range of epitopes that are accessible, we have chosen an animal host that is less phylogenetically related to humans.

Expression of heavy chain-only antibodies can support B-cell development in light chain knockout chickens.

Since the discovery of antibody-producing B cells in chickens six decades ago, chickens have been a model for B-cell development in gut-associated lymphoid tissue species. Here we describe targeting of the immunoglobulin light chain locus by homologous recombination in chicken primordial germ cells (PGCs) and generation of VJCL knockout chickens. In contrast to immunoglobulin heavy chain knockout chickens, which completely lack mature B cells, homozygous light chain knockout (IgL(-/-) ) chickens have a small population of B lineage cells that develop in the bursa and migrate to the periphery.