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Major role for CD8 + T cells in the protection against Toxoplasma gondii following dendritic cell vaccination
Author(s) -
GUITON R.,
ZAGANI R.,
DIMIERPOISSON I.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
parasite immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.795
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1365-3024
pISSN - 0141-9838
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3024.2009.01146.x
Subject(s) - toxoplasma gondii , biology , immunology , cd8 , cytotoxic t cell , vaccination , spleen , immune system , dendritic cell , toxoplasmosis , t cell , effector , immunity , antibody , in vitro , biochemistry
Summary Toxoplasma gondii is the causative agent of toxoplasmosis, a worldwide zoonosis for which an effective vaccine is needed. Vaccination with pulsed dendritic cells is very efficient but their use in a vaccination protocol is unconceivable. Nevertheless, unravelling the induced effector mechanisms is crucial to design new vaccine strategies. We vaccinated CBA/J mice with parasite extract‐pulsed dendritic cells, challenged them with T. gondii cysts and carried out in vivo depletion of CD4 + or CD8 + T lymphocytes to study the subsequent cellular immune response and protective mechanisms. CD4 + lymphocytes were poorly implicated either in spleen and mesenteric lymph node (MLN) cytokine secretion or in mice protection. By contrast, the increasing number of intracerebral cysts and depletion of CD8 + cells were strongly correlated, revealing a prominent role for CD8 + lymphocytes in the protection of mice. Splenic CD8 + lymphocytes induce a strong Th1 response controlled by a Th2 response whereas CD8 + cells from MLNs inhibit both Th1 and Th2 responses. CD8 + cells are the main effectors following dendritic cell vaccination and Toxoplasma infection while CD4 + T cells only play a minor role. This contrasts with T. gondii infection which elicits the generation of CD4 + and CD8 + T cells that provide protective immunity.