title: APC licensing and CD4+T cell help in liver-stage malaria.
abstract: Malaria parasites spend a critical phase of their life cycle inside hepatocytes, in an environment with complex and distinctive immunological features. Here I will discuss how the immunological features of the liver and the adaptations of malaria parasites interact, resulting in defective CD8+ T cell immunity. These processes are explored with a focus on the mechanism by which CD4+ T cells deliver help to CD8+ T cells, and specifically through their interaction with antigen-presenting cells (APCs), resulting in "licensing" of the APCs and enhanced capacity to optimally activate CD8+ T cells. Synthesis of the available evidence supports a model in which the parasite-mediated manipulation of programmed cell death in infected hepatocytes impairs the capacity of the liver's immune system to successfully license APCs and fully activate T cell immunity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Washington Seattle, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Ian N
authors.initials: IN
authors.lastname: Crispe
keywords: CD4+ T cell help; CD8+ T cell; antigen-presenting cells; hepatocyte; immunity; licensing; liver; malaria parasite