title: Role of chemokine ligand 2 in the protective response to early murine pulmonary tuberculosis.
abstract: Chemokines play an important role in the development of immunity to tuberculosis. Chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2, JE, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1) is thought to be primarily responsible for recruiting monocytes, dendritic cells, natural killer cells and activated T cells, all of which play critical roles in the effective control of tuberculosis infection in mice. We show here that in mice in which the CCL2 gene was disrupted, low-dose aerosol infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis resulted in fewer macrophages entering the lungs, but only a minor and transient increase in bacterial load in the lungs; these mice were still able to establish a state of chronic disease. Such animals showed similar numbers of activated T cells as wild-type mice, as determined by their expression of the CD44hi CD62lo phenotype, but a transient reduction in cells secreting interferon-gamma. These data indicate that the primary deficiency in mice unable to produce CCL2 is a transient failure to focus antigen-specific T lymphocytes into the infected lung, whereas other elements of the acquired host response are compensated for by different ligands interacting with the chemokine receptor CCR2.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, USA.
authors.forename: Andre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kipnis
authors.forename: Randall J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Basaraba
authors.forename: Ian M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Orme
authors.forename: Andrea M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Cooper
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D018932:Chemokine CCL2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D005434:Flow Cytometry / Q000379:methods; D018960:Hyaluronan Receptors / Q000276:immunology; D007111:Immunity, Cellular / Q000276:immunology; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000276:immunology; D019041:L-Selectin / Q000276:immunology; D008024:Ligands; D008168:Lung / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000276:immunology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D018932:Chemokine CCL2; D018960:Hyaluronan Receptors; D008024:Ligands; D019041:L-Selectin; D007371:Interferon-gamma