Limited role for CD4+ T-cell help in the initial priming of Trypanosoma cruzi-specific CD8+ T cells

Immune control of the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi requires the activation of both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. We recently identified two T. cruzi trans-sialidase peptides that are targets of approximately 30% of all CD8+ T cells during acute T. cruzi infection in mice. To determine whether CD4+ T cells are required for generation of these dominant CD8+ T-cell responses, major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC II)-deficient mice were infected with the Brazil strain of T. cruzi and examined for the generation of antigen-specific CD8+ T cells. Strong trans-sialidase TSKB18- and TSKB20-specific CD8+ T-cell responses were generated in both the presence and the absence of CD4+ help. However, the magnitudes of the immunodominant TSKB20-specific CD8+ T-cell responses detectable using class I MHC-peptide tetramers were consistently lower in the blood and spleens of MHC II-deficient mice. Spleen cells from infected MHC II-deficient mice produced gamma interferon after in vitro stimulation with T. cruzi peptides at levels similar to those in wild-type mice, and MHC II-deficient mice displayed strong T. cruzi peptide-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocyte activity in vivo. Thus, primary CD8+ T-cell responses in experimental T. cruzi infection are generated in the absence of CD4+ T cells, providing further evidence that T. cruzi directly activates and licenses antigen-presenting cells. Nevertheless, unhelped CD8+ T cells in T. cruzi-infected mice fail to reach the frequencies achieved in the presence of CD4 T-cell help and are unable to prevent acute-phase death of these mice.