title: CD8+ T lymphocytes are not required for murine resistance to human filarial parasites.
abstract: Mice are resistant to the establishment of infection with the nematode parasite Brugia malayi, an etiologic agent of human lymphatic filariasis. We have recently shown that T and B lymphocyte-deficient C.B.-17 scid/scid mice are permissive for infection with this parasite, whereas coisogenic C.B.-17+/+ mice are resistant. This observation suggests that T and B lymphocytes that comprise the antigen-specific immune system orchestrate murine resistance to B. malayi. In order to define the component of the antigen-specific immune response that is responsible for this resistance, we have tested the susceptibility of beta 2M-/- mice to infection with B. malayi L3 larvae. These mice are homozygous for insertional disruption of their B2m genes, which encode beta 2-microglobulin, the small subunit of the major histocompatibility (MHC) antigens. They do not express beta 2-microglobulin and, as a consequence, fail to express the class I major histocompatibility antigens, and they do not develop the CD8+ class I MHC-restricted cytotoxic T cell subset. We find that these mice are completely resistant to B. malayi, indicating that the CD8+ T lymphocyte subset is not an obligate requirement for murine resistance to human filarial parasites.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington 06030.
authors.forename: T V
authors.initials: TV
authors.lastname: Rajan
authors.forename: F K
authors.initials: FK
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.forename: L D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Shultz
authors.forename: B H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Koller
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Greiner
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002009:Brugia / Q000276:immunology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004605:Elephantiasis, Filarial / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008817:Mice, Mutant Strains; D016513:Mice, SCID; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology*; D001613:beta 2-Microglobulin / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D001613:beta 2-Microglobulin