Different roles are played by alpha beta and gamma delta T cells in acquired immunity to Chlamydia trachomatis pulmonary infection.
Using gene knockout and wild-type C57BL/6 mice, we examined the role of alpha beta and gamma delta T cells in the resolution of Chlamydia trachomatis mouse pneumonitis (MoPn) biovar pulmonary infection. The results show that alpha beta T-cell-deficient (alpha-/-) mice, when compared with wild-type control mice, have dramatically increased mortality rate and greater in vivo growth of MoPn. The alpha beta T-cell-deficient mice were as susceptible to MoPn infection as T- and B-lymphocyte-deficient (RAG-1-/-) mice. Moreover, both alpha beta T-cell-deficient and RAG-1 mutant mice failed to mount delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) responses to organism-specific challenge and showed undetectable interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) production by spleen cells upon in vitro organism-specific restimulation. In contrast, gamma delta T-cell-deficient mice exhibited intact DTH responses and their mortality rate and in vivo chlamydial growth were comparable to those in wild-type controls. More interestingly, gamma delta T-cell-deficient mice showed significantly higher levels of IFN-gamma production than did wild-type mice. The data indicate that the alpha beta T cell is the major T-cell population for acquired immunity to chlamydial infection and that gamma delta T cells may play an ancillary role in regulating the magnitude of alpha beta T-cell responses.
Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
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Yang
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Hayglass
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Brunham
D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D002692:Chlamydia trachomatis; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006968:Hypersensitivity, Delayed / Q000276:immunology; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000097:blood; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis; D008172:Lung Diseases, Fungal / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000276:immunology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*
D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell; D016753:Interleukin-10; D007371:Interferon-gamma