 Targeting T-Cells for Animal Health
The USDA is betting big that genetic research at Montana State University will increase our knowledge of bovine health relatively soon. "We think we can make a lot of headway in a short time," says Mark Jutila of MSU's Veterinary Molecular Biology Department. He plans to target a different immune cell than has been studied in the past. The work should zero-in on the genes needed to develop new vaccines or breed healthier cattle and buffalo. The three-year research project was the largest animal genome project funded by the USDA competitive grants program this year, says Jutila. The USDA put $1.8 million toward the project, which is headed by Jutila and includes other VMB scientists, but also will include researchers at the University of Minnesota and Washington State University Veterinary Medicine programs. About two-thirds of the grant is for work at MSU. Studying such "functional genomics" may do for genetic studies what rifling did for muskets: help us hit a target. Just as rifling the barrel of a musket produced more accuracy, researchers are targeting a single form of "T-cell" dominant among bovines. In this work, researchers are studying a relatively newly discovered T cell. In the past, researchers focused on "alpha/beta" T cells because they are the most abundant and important T cell in the immune system of humans and rodents. It was assumed that they would be the most important T cell for other animals as well. However, up to 70 percent of the circulating T cells in newborn cattle are the "gamma/delta" type, which are distinct from alpha/beta T cells. "We know very little about what the gamma/delta T cell does. Maybe this is why we haven't been able to develop good cattle vaccines any faster than we have," says Jutila. The cooperating universities are carefully chosen for their talents and tools, says Jutila. The University of Minnesota has a large genome center that can do large scale genetic sequencing -- determining the single letter "code" of specific genes or segments of DNA. Washington State University provides expertise as one of the premier bovine immunology labs in the country, says Jutila. "Montana's cattle industry has great genetics, but this is our first example of going in and doing genome science in cattle. The idea behind functional genomics is to identify and learn how to work with the genes that control specific traits and do it in a much faster way than what has been done in the past," says Jutila. "Once we start to understand the genes that control the function of these cells, specific genetic traits that are important in resistance to infectious disease might be identified that could be followed in breeding." Go to more news from the MSU College of Agriculture.
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