The study, published in the European Journal of Immunology, is the first to identify and characterise lipid-reactive Natural Killer T (NKT)-like cells in birds. The breakthrough could open new opportunities for effective disease protection across poultry flocks.
NKT cells are a special type of immune cell that help the body respond quickly to infection while also helping to build longer-term protection. It is already known that mammals, including humans, have these cells, but until now it was unclear whether chickens did too.
In this study, researchers discovered a population of chicken immune cells that behaves in a similar way. They found when chicken immune cells detect a potential threat, they produce and display a naturally occurring fat molecule called GM3 and release chemical signals that act as an alarm. The newly discovered NKT-like cells are activated only when they receive both signals: they recognise the GM3 molecule and detect the alarm signals.
Once activated, these newly discovered immune cells quickly help coordinate the chicken's defence against disease. They release signalling molecules that call other immune cells to the site of infection, helping the body tackle harmful bacteria such as Salmonella and E. coli. They can also directly destroy virus-infected or damaged cells, giving them a dual role in both organising and carrying out the immune response.
This is the first clear evidence that chickens have NKT-like cells that respond to fat-based molecules. The discovery improves researchers understanding of how the chicken immune system works and could help in the design of more effective vaccines that provide stronger and more consistent protection against disease in poultry flocks.
Shahriar Behboudi, Professor of Immunology in the Bristol Veterinary School and senior author of the study, said: "Our study provides the first clear evidence that chickens have specialised immune cells that can recognise certain fat molecules and respond rapidly to infection. The discovery changes our understanding of how the avian immune system works and highlights a promising new route for vaccine development."
Nitin Kamble, postdoctoral researcher at The Pirbright Institute, and co-author on the paper, added: "Because the immune pathway involved is shared across different breeds of poultry, it could provide a universal target for vaccines that work consistently across entire flocks. By combining vaccines with lipid-based ingredients such as GM3, we might be able to stimulate multiple parts of the immune system at the same time, leading to stronger and more reliable protection. In the long term, this approach could improve poultry health and help reduce the farming industry's reliance on antibiotics."
One of the biggest challenges in poultry vaccination is that vaccines do not always work equally well across different chicken breeds. This newly discovered immune pathway could help overcome that problem by providing a shared target found across chicken populations, potentially leading to more consistent, flock-wide protection.
The discovery could also help reduce antibiotic use in farming. By using molecules such as GM3 to boost vaccine responses, researchers might be able to strengthen chickens' natural defences against harmful infections, improving flock health and supporting efforts to tackle antimicrobial resistance.
The collaborative research by the University of Bristol and The Pirbright Institute, was supported by research grants BB/T020954/1, BB/S01506X/1, BBS/E/I/00007030 from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).
Paper
'Discovery of avian TCRVβ2⁺ t cells recognizing the endogenous ganglioside via a chCD1.1-dependent pathway' by Nitin Kamble, Faisal R Anjum, and Shahriar Behboudi in the European Journal of Immunology [open access]
