ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Comparative Immunology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1679963
This article is part of the Research TopicExploring Adaptive Immunity in Ruminants and Humans: A One Health PerspectiveView all 3 articles
Characterization of T-cell immune responses against Staphylococcus chromogenes naturally-induced subclinical mastitis in dairy cows
Provisionally accepted
- 1College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, PR China, Yangzhou, China
- 2Bright Farming Co., Ltd., Key Laboratory of Dairy Cattles Genetic Improvement in Southern China Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs,P.R.China , Shanghai 200436, China, Shanghai, China
- 3Hebei Pinyuan Biotechnology Co., Ltd, Shijiazhuang, 050000, China, Shijiazhuang, China
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Subclinical mastitis in dairy cows is an asymptomatic inflammatory condition of the mammary gland during lactation. It is frequently associated with reduced milk yield, impaired milk quality, and an elevated risk of progression to clinical mastitis. The dysregulation of immune homeostasis characterizing this subclinical state represents a significant yet often overlooked concern in dairy herds. We characterized T cell subsets in cows with Staphylococcus chromogenes-induced subclinical mastitis and healthy controls. We found that S. chromogenes infection induced an increase in the percentage of γδ T cells and a decrease in CD4+CD8+ double-positive (DP) T cells within milk cells, while significantly elevating the percentage of γδ T cells expressing CD44. Cell sorting combined with quantitative RT-PCR has indicated that infection by S. chromogenes may activate γδ T cells. Specifically, in subclinical mastitis milk, the expression levels of five cytokines—IFN-γ, IL-2, TNF-α, IL-17, and GZMB—were significantly higher in WC1+ γδ T cells compared to healthy cows. Furthermore, these cells released elevated levels of PRF1, which directly killed target cells infected with bacteria compared to the levels observed in healthy cows. Our results reveal, for the first time, the significant role of γδ T cells in S. chromogenes -induced subclinical mastitis, providing new insights into the immune protective mechanisms against subclinical mastitis in cows.
Keywords: Subclinical mastitis1, T-cell response2, Staphylococcus chromogenes3, flow cytometry4, cow5
Received: 05 Aug 2025; Accepted: 26 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yu, Wu, Zhang, Ye, Wei, Yang and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Zhipeng Zhang, zhipengzhang@yzu.edu.cn
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