Figure 2.

Avian β-defensin 9 (AvBD9) mRNA expression in primary chicken PBMCs (a) and splenocytes (b) in response to L. rhamnosus MLGA-derived intact peptidoglycan or its hydrolysate obtained by lysozyme digestion. Primary cells were incubated with 100 µg/ml of L. rhamnosus MLGA-derived intact peptidoglycan or its hydrolysate for 6 h. Real-time RT-PCR was performed to determine the AvBD9 mRNA expression, and the relative gene expression was calculated using the comparative 2-ΔΔCt method with the GAPDH gene as a reference for normalization and presented as fold-expression change relative to the control group. Values are given as the mean ± SD of two to three independent experiments. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 compared with control group; ^#P < 0.05, ^##P < 0.01 between the indicated treatments.