Evaluation of T cell responses in healing and nonhealing leishmaniasis reveals differences in T helper cell polarization ex vivo and in vitro.
Experimental leishmaniasis is widely used to study the effector functions of T helper cell subsets in vivo. Healing and nonhealing Leishmania major infections have been correlated with T helper 1 and T helper 2 responses, respectively. In the present study, we determined T cell effector functions ex vivo, without any further restimulation and compared them to those obtained following antigen-specific restimulation in vitro. Our results show that T helper cell responses are significantly less polarized when determined ex vivo as compared to those measured after restimulation in vitro. Moreover, the differences in CD4(+) T cell proliferation observed between healer and nonhealer strains of mice differed ex vivo and in vitro. Our results suggest that determination of both ex vivo as well as in vitro T cell responses is crucial to characterize immune responses during experimental leishmaniasis.
Choi
B-S
BS
Department of Immunology, Imperial College London, UK.
Kropf
P
P
D000818:Animals; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000096:biosynthesis; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000096:biosynthesis; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000096:biosynthesis; D016773:Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008808:Mice, Inbred CBA; D012038:Regeneration / Q000276:immunology*
D016753:Interleukin-10; D015847:Interleukin-4; D007371:Interferon-gamma