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Infect Immun, July 1998, p. 3270-3278, Vol. 66, No. 7
Laboratory of Host Defense and Germfree Life,
Received 12 January 1998/Returned for modification 11 February
1998/Accepted 15 April 1998
The number of
0019-9567/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Protective Roles of

T Cells and
Interleukin-15 in Escherichia coli Infection in
Mice

T cells in the peritoneal cavity was increased
after an intraperitoneal (i.p.) infection with Escherichia coli in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-responsive C3H/HeN mice but not in LPS-hyporesponsive C3H/HeJ mice. The 
T cells preferentially expressed invariant V
6 and V
1 chains and proliferated to produce a large amount of gamma interferon in the presence of LPS. Mice depleted of 
T cells by T-cell receptor
gene mutation showed impaired resistance against E. coli as assessed by
bacterial growth. Macrophages from C3H/HeN mice infected with E. coli expressed higher levels of interleukin-15 (IL-15) mRNA than
those from the infected C3H/HeJ mice. Administration of anti-IL-15
monoclonal antibody inhibited, albeit partially, the appearance of

T cells in C3H/HeN mice after E. coli infection and
diminished the host defense against the infection. These results
suggest that LPS-stimulated 
T cells play an important role in
the host defense against E. coli infection and that IL-15
may be partly involved in the protection via an increase in the 
T cells.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratory of
Host Defense and Germfree Life, Research Institute for Disease
Mechanism and Control, Nagoya University School of Medicine, 65 Tsuramai-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466, Japan. Phone: 81-52-744-2446. Fax:
81-52-744-2449. E-mail:
yyoshika{at}tsuru.med.nagoya.u-ac.jp.
Infect Immun, July 1998, p. 3270-3278, Vol. 66, No. 7
0019-9567/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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