Available at www.sciencedirect.com journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/devcompimm SHORT COMMUNICATION Differential expression of inflammatory and immune response genes in mesenteric lymph nodes of Iberian red deer (Cervus elaphus hispanicus) naturally infected with Mycobacterium bovis Isabel G. Ferna ´ndez de Mera a , Jose´Manuel Pe´rez de la Lastra a , Patricia Ayoubi b , Victoria Naranjo a , Katherine M. Kocan c , Christian Gortazar a , Jose´de la Fuente a,c,Ã a Instituto de Investigacio ´n en Recursos Cinege´ticos IREC (CSIC-UCLM-JCCM), Ronda de Toledo s/n, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain b Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Center for Veterinary Health Sciences, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA c Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Center for Veterinary Health Sciences, 250 McElroy Hall, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA Received 7 March 2007; received in revised form 26 April 2007; accepted 15 May 2007 Available online 14 June 2007 KEYWORDS Tuberculosis; Microarray; Deer; Wildlife; Lymph node; Genomics Abstract Little information is available about gene expression in natural mycobacterial infection of wildlife species. Iberian red deer can serve as reservoir of Mycobacterium bovis in Spain, thus increasing the risk of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in humans and cattle. Herein, we characterized the differential expression of inflammatory and immune response genes in mesenteric lymph nodes of deer naturally infected with M. bovis using microarray hybridization. Results were validated by determination of serum protein concentrations and/or real-time RT-PCR. Of the 600 genes that were analyzed in the microarray, 17 genes displayed an expression fold change greater than 1.7 in infected or uninfected deer (Pp0.05). These genes included tight junction proteins, IL-11R, bactenecin, CD62L, CD74, desmoglein, IgA and IgM that constitute new findings and suggest new mechanisms by which M. bovis may modulate host inflammatory and immune responses. These results ARTICLE IN PRESS 0145-305X/$ - see front matter & 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.dci.2007.05.001 Abbreviations: BTB; bovine tuberculosis; MLN; mesenteric lymph node. Ã Corresponding author. Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Center for Veterinary Health Sciences, 250 McElroy Hall, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA. Tel./fax: +14057440372. E-mail address: jose_delafuente@yahoo.com (J. de la Fuente). Developmental and Comparative Immunology (2008) 32, 85–91