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CD8+ T lymphocytes protect SCID mice against Encephalitozoon cuniculi infection
P Braunfuchsová1, J Salát, J Kopecký
1Institute of Parasitology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of South Bohemia, Branisovská 31, 370 05, Ceské Budejovice, Czech Republic.
Abstract:
Microsporidia are obligate intracellular parasites that cause opportunistic infections in immunocompromised patients. The role of two main T cell subsets in anti-microsporidial immunity has been studied using an Encephalitozoon cuniculi-severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mouse model. Whereas SCID mice reconstituted with CD4+ T lymphocyte-depleted naive BALB/c splenocytes resolved the infection, adoptive transfer of CD8+ T cell-depleted splenocytes failed to protect the animals against a lethal E. cuniculi infection. Splenocytes from E. cuniculi-immune mice specifically killed syngeneic infected macrophages in a short-term 51Cr-release assay. These results suggest the crucial role of cytotoxic T lymphocytes in the protection against E. cuniculi infection.