T cells facilitate Brugia malayi development in TCRalpha(null) mice

The host-parasite interactions of Brugia malayi in mice are complex and multifactorial. In order to study the role of T cells in early B. malayi development, we infected TCRalpha(null) mice, which retain a population of CD4+ TCRbeta+ cells and TCRbeta(null) mice, which lack all TCRalphabeta(+) T cells. TCRalpha(null) mice were permissive to L4 larval and adult worm development but TCRbeta(null) mice were not. Depletion of the CD4(+) T cells in the former abrogated the permissive phenotype. It appears that the CD4(+) TCRbeta(+) T cells that have been described in TCRalpha(null) mice may facilitate early B. malayi development. These data are similar to our earlier demonstration of the role of NK cells in facilitating worm growth in SCID mice.