A swine toll-like receptor 2-expressing transfectant as a potential primary screening system for immunobiotic microorganisms

Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) has been shown to mediate cell signaling in response to microbial cell wall components, such as peptidoglycan, lipoteichoic acid, microbial lipoprotein, and zymosan. In this study, we cloned the swine TLR2 and used it to transfect Chinese hamster ovary K-1 cells. We demonstrated that the swine TLR2-expressing transfectant can bind not only zymosan from yeast cell wall components but also intact lactic acid bacteria, resulting in the activation of nuclear factor-kappaB. These findings suggest that the swine TLR2-expressing transfectant can be very useful for the primary screening of immunobiotic microorganisms.