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Administration of killed bacteria together with listeriolysin O induces protective imm_unity against Listeria monocytogenes in mice
Author(s) -
Huabao Xiong,
Yoshinari Tanabe,
Satoshi Ohya,
Masao Mitsuyama
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.297
H-Index - 133
eISSN - 1365-2567
pISSN - 0019-2805
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2567.1998.00477.x
Subject(s) - listeria monocytogenes , listeriolysin o , microbiology and biotechnology , bacteria , listeria , biology , genetics
It is known that only listeriolysin O (LLO)‐producing Listeria monocytogenes strains are able to induce protective imm_unity, but the underlining relationship between LLO produced by virulent strains and generation of protective imm_unity in the infected host remains poorly understood. In the present study, it was found that LLO gene expression was only detected in the mice infected with virulent strain which was able to induce protective imm_unity, while non‐virulent strains or killed bacteria were not able to generate protective imm_unity. When mice were imm_unized with LLO plus killed bacteria in the presence of incomplete Freund’s adjuvant, the protective imm_unity was partially generated, and adoptive transfer experiment confirmed that this protection was antigen specific. Reverse‐transcription polymerase chain reaction revealed that LLO plus killed bacteria induced the expression of interferon‐γ (IFN‐γ) and interleukin‐12 (IL‐12). Our results also showed CD4 + T cells were the principal cells constituting protective imm_unity. Taken together, it may be concluded that LLO produced from virulent strains of L. monocytogenes was essential for the generation of protective imm_unity, and that LLO plus killed bacteria induced IFN‐γ and IL‐12 expression which resulted in the generation of protective imm_unity.