Protection against Paracoccidioides brasiliensis infection in mice treated with modulated dendritic cells relies on inhibition of interleukin‐10 production by CD 8 + T cells

Summary Paracoccidioidomycosis is a systemic infection prevalent in Latin American countries. Disease develops after inhalation of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis conidia followed by an improper immune activation by the host leucocytes. Dendritic cells ( DC s) are antigen‐presenting cells with the unique ability to direct the adaptive immune response by the time of activation of naive T cells. This study was conducted to test whether extracts of P. brasiliensis would induce maturation of DC s. We found that DC s treated with extracts acquired an inflammatory phenotype and upon adoptive transfer conferred protection to infection. Interestingly, interleukin‐10 production by CD 8 + T cells was ablated following DC transfer. Further analyses showed that lymphocytes from infected mice were high producers of interleukin‐10, with CD 8 + T cells being the main source. Blockage of cross‐presentation to CD 8 + T cells by modulated DC s abolished the protective effect of adoptive transfer. Collectively, our data show that adoptive transfer of P. brasiliensis ‐modulated DC s is an interesting approach for the control of infection in paracoccidioidomycosis.