title: Role of Trypanosoma cruzi autoreactive T cells in the generation of cardiac pathology.
abstract: Chagas disease, caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, affects several million people in Central and South America. About 30% of chronic patients develop cardiomyopathy probably caused by parasite persistence and/or autoimmunity. While several cross-reactive antibodies generated during mammal T. cruzi infection have been described, very few cross-reactive T cells have been identified. We performed adoptive transfer experiments of T cells isolated from chronically infected mice. The results showed the generation of cardiac pathology in the absence of parasites. We also transferred cross-reactive SAPA-specific T cells and observed unspecific alterations in heart repolarization, cardiac inflammatory infiltration, and tissue damage.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Biología Molecular, CSIC-UAM, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, E-28049 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Núria
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gironès
authors.forename: Eugenio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Carrasco-Marin
authors.forename: Henar
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cuervo
authors.forename: Néstor Adrián
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Guerrero
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sanoja
authors.forename: Sparrow
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: John
authors.forename: Reyes
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Flores-Herráez
authors.forename: Lorena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fernández-Prieto
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Chico-Calero
authors.forename: Hugo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Salgado
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Carrión
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fresno
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015551:Autoimmunity / Q000276:immunology; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology*; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D018716:Molecular Mimicry / Q000276:immunology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000276:immunology*