Toll-like receptor signaling for the induction of mucin expression by lipopolysaccharide in the hen vagina.

We previously reported that bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a ligand of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), induced mucin mRNA to enhance the mucosal barrier in the hen vagina. The aim of this study was to determine the intracellular signaling molecules for that mucin induction, and the effect of molting and estrogen on their expression. The expression of TLR4, its adaptor molecules, and transcriptional factors in the vaginal mucosa of laying and molting hens treated with or without estradiol was examined by reverse-transcription PCR. The expression of mucin in the cultured mucosal tissue stimulated by LPS together with inhibitors of transcriptional factors was analyzed by quantitative reverse-transcription PCR. The expression of TLR4, its adaptor molecule, namely, myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) or Toll-interleukin 1 receptor domain-containing adaptor-inducing IFN-β (TRIF), and transcriptional factors, namely, cFos and cJun, declined in molting hens compared with that in laying hens, and were upregulated by estradiol. In vagina of laying hens, mucin expression was upregulated by LPS, whereas it was suppressed by inhibitors of transcriptional factors, namely, ALLN (an inhibitor of IκB proteolysis), BAY-117085 (an NFκB inhibitor), U0126 [a mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) inhibitor], and transhinone IIA [an activated protein 1 (AP-1) inhibitor]. These results suggest that a MyD88-dependent pathway downstream of TLR4 and transcriptional factors of NFκB and AP-1 participate in the induction of mucin expression by LPS in the vaginal mucosa. These signaling functions may decline during molting owing to the decline in the level of circulating estrogen. Such mucin expression system may play a role in the mucosal barrier against infection in the vaginal mucosa.