title: TNF but not Fas ligand provides protective anti-L. major immunity in C57BL/6 mice.
abstract: The pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF is essential for a protective immune response to some but not all strains of Leishmania major. TNF-deficient mice of a resistant genetic background succumbed rapidly to an infection with L. major BNI. Another member of the TNF superfamily, Fas ligand (FasL), has also been reported to be critical for the immune response to L. major. To test the relative importance of TNF versus FasL for the control of L. major BNI, we infected wildtype C57BL/6 (B6.WT), B6.TNF(-/-), B6.gld and C57BL/6.gld x TNF(-/-) (B6.gld.TNF(-/-)) double-negative mice. Visceral, fatal disease was only observed in B6.TNF(-/-) mice, but not in B6 gld mice. The course of infection and the immune response of B6.gld.TNF(-/-) mice were similar to those of B6.TNF(-/-) mice. B6.gld.TNF(-/-) mice had a high tissue parasite burden and expressed prominent amounts of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in the skin, the lymph nodes (LN) and the spleen as previously reported for B6.TNF(-/-) mice, whereas the tissue parasite load and the iNOS expression of B6.gld mice resembled that of B6.WT controls. Neither the TNF- nor the FasL-deficiency exerted a detectable intrinsic effect on the proliferation of T cells. Thus, TNF, but not FasL is essential for the control of L. major BNI. The discrepancy between these and other published data are most likely due to the use of different strains of the pathogen.
authors.affiliation: Interdisziplinäres Zentrum für Klinische Forschung der Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Nachwuchsgruppe 1, Nikolaus-Fiebiger-Zentrum, Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wilhelm
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wiede
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Meissner
authors.forename: Norbert
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Donhauser
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bogdan
authors.forename: Heinrich
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Körner
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D053222:Fas Ligand Protein; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D018320:Leishmania major / Q000254:growth & development / Q000276:immunology*; D016773:Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II / Q000032:analysis; D012867:Skin / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology; D013154:Spleen / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D048069:Tumor Necrosis Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D053222:Fas Ligand Protein; C505658:Fasl protein, mouse; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D048069:Tumor Necrosis Factors; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II