Monitoring the T cell response to genital tract infection.
To date, it has not been possible to study antigen-specific T cell responses during primary infection of the genital tract. The low frequency of pathogen-specific T cells in a naïve mouse makes it difficult to monitor the initial events after antigen encounter. We developed a system to examine the response of pathogen-specific T cells in the genital mucosa after intrauterine infection. We identified the protective CD4(+) T cell antigen Cta1 from Chlamydia trachomatis and generated T cell receptor (TCR) transgenic (tg) mice with specificity for this protein. By transferring TCR tg T cells into naïve animals, we determined that Chlamydia-specific T cells were activated and proliferated in the lymph nodes draining the genital tract after primary intrauterine infection. Activated T cells migrated into the genital mucosa and secreted IFN-gamma. The development of Chlamydia-specific TCR tg mice provides an approach for dissecting how pathogen-specific T cells function in the genital tract.
Roan
Nadia R
NR
Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Gierahn
Todd M
TM
Higgins
Darren E
DE
Starnbach
Michael N
MN
D000818:Animals; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D002692:Chlamydia trachomatis / Q000378:metabolism; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000378:metabolism; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000378:metabolism; D013154:Spleen / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology; D018127:Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor Superfamily, Member 7 / Q000737:chemistry
D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell; D018127:Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor Superfamily, Member 7; D007371:Interferon-gamma