ELUCIDATING THE FUNCTIONAL ROLE OF INTERFERON REGULATORY FACTOR 7 IN THE HOST ANTIVIRAL PATHWAY AGAINST AVIAN INFLUENZA VIRUS IN CHICKENS

The recent outbreaks of multi-state high-pathogenic avian influenza (AI) have had significant impact on the poultry industry in the United States and AI has been chronic issues in Europe and Asia. In addition, some avian influenza virus (AIV) strains have been transmitted to humans and caused significant human death. It is urgent that we gain a clear understanding of molecular response in order to facilitate the development of therapeutics for the control of AIV in chickens and to advance strategies for the limiting of and response to zoonotic AI transmission to humans. Innovative development of next-generation sequencing (NGS) has enabled the genome-wide, comprehensive approach of biological systems more accurately and dynamically. Functional genomics approach that integrate gain/loss of function studies followed by NGS analyses can expedite and provide a more complete picture of host cellular response against AIV that arises from the information encoded in chicken's genome. Low-pathogenic AI strain H6N2 is expected to provide more direct information on host-pathogen interaction in relation to its close subtype H6N1 which was the major pathogen of recent AI outbreak in the US. This study will serve as a stepping stone towards elucidating the underlying cellular mechanism of IRF7 modulation in chickens to develop antiviral strategy against AIV for both poultry industry and public health. Practical application of the information gleaned from this study could lead to the development of chicken lines that are resistant to key pathogens and/or have a more robust immune response that can help poultry industry.