Trypanosoma cruzi down-regulates lipopolysaccharide-induced MHC class I on human dendritic cells and impairs antigen presentation to specific CD8(+) T lymphocytes.
Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas' disease, may persist for many years in its mammalian host. This suggests escape from the immune response and particularly a suboptimal CD8(+) T cell response, since these cells are involved in infection control. In this report, we show that T. cruzi inhibits the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced up-regulation of MHC class I molecules at the surface of human dendritic cells (DC). To further investigate the functional consequences of this inhibition, a trypomastigote surface antigen-derived peptide (TSA-1(514-522) peptide) was selected for its stable binding to HLA-A*0201 molecules and used to generate a primary T. cruzi-specific human CD8(+) T cell line in vitro. We observed that DC infected with T. cruzi or treated with T. cruzi-conditioned medium (TCM) had a weaker capacity to present this peptide to the specific CD8(+) T cell line as shown in an IFN-gamma ELISPOT assay. Interestingly, T. cruzi or TCM also reduced the antigen presentation capacity of DC to CD8(+) T cell lines specific for the influenza virus M(58-66) or HIV RT(476-484) epitopes. This dysfunction appears to be linked essentially to reduced MHC class I molecule expression since the stimulation of the RT(476-484) peptide-specific CD8(+) T cell line was shown to depend mainly on the MHC class I-TCR interaction and not on the co-stimulatory signals which, however, were also inhibited by T. cruzi. This impairment of DC function may represent a novel mechanism reducing in vivo the host's ability to combat efficiently T. cruzi infection.
D000818:Animals; D017951:Antigen Presentation; D018106:CD28 Antigens / Q000502:physiology; D019013:CD40 Antigens / Q000502:physiology; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D002460:Cell Line; D017077:Culture Media, Conditioned; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D015536:Down-Regulation; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000494:pharmacology; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000276:immunology*
D018106:CD28 Antigens; D019013:CD40 Antigens; D017077:Culture Media, Conditioned; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides