ABSTRACT: Mastitis is an inflammation of the mammary gland (MG), usually due to bacterial infection. Although considerable attention has been paid to this economically important disease, the early stages of the host response remain poorly defined. In particular, it is unclear how mammary epithelial cells (MEC), a first barrier against pathogens, respond to infection. Indeed, it is difficult to differentiate between the contributions of MEC and infiltrating immune cells to gene expression profiles of mammary tissue during mastitis. The current investigation examines the response of MEC at the early stage of infection using a non invasive RNA sampling method taking advantage of the presence of cytoplasmic crescents contained in milk fat globules. We have recently shown that, in goats, Milk Fat Globules (MFG) provide a unique source of RNA to study the in vivo regulation of gene expression in MEC. This non invasive RNA sampling method was used during the time course of an experimental intra mammary infection (IMI) with S. aureus. Experiments were performed using ovine microarrays (Agilent) to compare gene expression patterns before infection, at 12h, 18h and 24h post-infection (PI). Furthermore, we combined this approach with laser capture microdissection of MEC isolated from frozen slides of mammary tissue to study some specific genes at the late stage of infection (30h PI). We show that at 18h PI, before the burst of somatic cells in milk, MEC play an important role in the recruitment and activation of inflammatory cells through the IL-8 signaling pathways. Then, at the late stage of infection (30h PI), the contribution of MEC in immune response changes to produce different acute phase proteins, including SAA3, serpin A1 and PTX3. These cells also express factors that contribute directly to fighting infection, such as S100A12. In summary, we demonstrate for the first time in vivo how MEC orchestrate innate immune response during an IMI with S. aureus in the goat species. We report here new opportunities to assess the dynamics of gene expression in the mammary gland, thus providing significant advances in the understanding of MEC immune capacity. Furthermore, the production of some molecules by MEC, in the early stages of IMI, could provide sensitive biomarkers for early detection and therefore, treatment of mastitis.
