AUTHOR=Zhang Zhipeng , Chen Daijie , Lu Xubin , Zhao Ruifeng , Chen Zhi , Li Mingxun , Xu Tianle , Mao Yongjiang , Yang Yi , Yang Zhangping 

TITLE=Directed Expression of Tracheal Antimicrobial Peptide as a Treatment for Bovine-Associated Staphylococcus Aureus-Induced Mastitis in Mice

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Veterinary Science

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2021.700930

DOI=10.3389/fvets.2021.700930

ISSN=2297-1769

ABSTRACT=<p>Bovine mastitis is perplexing the dairy industry since the initiation of intensive dairy farming, which has caused a reduction in the productivity of cows and an escalation in costs. The use of antibiotics causes a series of problems, especially the formation of bacterial antimicrobial resistance. However, there are limited antibiotic-free therapeutic strategies that can effectively relieve bacterial infection of bovine mammary glands. Hence, in this study, we constructed a mammary gland tissue-specific expression vector carrying the antimicrobial peptide of bovine-derived tracheal antimicrobial peptide (<italic>TAP</italic>) and evaluated it in both primary bovine mammary epithelial cells (pBMECs) and mice. The results showed that the vector driven by the β<italic>-</italic>lactoglobulin gene (<italic>BLG</italic>) promoter could efficiently direct the expression of <italic>TAP</italic> in pBMECs and the mammary gland tissue of mice. In addition, significant antibacterial effects were observed in both <italic>in vitro</italic> and <italic>in vivo</italic> experiments when introducing this vector to bovine-associated <italic>Staphylococcus aureus</italic>-treated pBMECs and mice, respectively. This study demonstrated that the mammary gland tissue-specific expression vector could be used to introduce antimicrobial peptide both in <italic>in vitro</italic> and <italic>in vivo</italic> and will provide a new therapeutic strategy in the treatment of bovine mastitis.</p>