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Infection and Immunity, October 1999, p. 5253-5257, Vol. 67, No. 10
Department of Biology, University of North
Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, North Carolina
28223,1 and Immunex Corporation,
Seattle, Washington 981012
Received 14 April 1999/Returned for modification 25 May
1999/Accepted 15 July 1999
Interactions between CD40 expressed on macrophages and CD40 ligand
expressed on T lymphocytes can be an important signal for optimal
macrophage activation. Previous studies have demonstrated that the
optimal response against certain intracellular pathogens (e.g.,
Crytosporidium and Leishmania spp.) by
macrophages requires CD40-CD40 ligand interactions. However, this
finding is not universal, since two recent reports utilizing CD40
knockout mice have shown no such contribution to the protective immune
response against Mycobacterium tuberculosis or
Histoplasma capsulatum. We demonstrate here that CD40-CD40
ligand interactions are significant events in the protective response
against the intracellular pathogen Salmonella dublin in
normal mice but not for animals genetically deficient in CD40 ligand
expression. Treating BALB/c mice exogenously with a CD40 agonist (i.e.,
soluble trimeric CD40 ligand) increased resistance against a lethal,
orally administered dose of S. dublin. Conversely, in vivo
administration of a monoclonal antibody against CD40 ligand to block
endogenous CD40-CD40 ligand interactions resulted in a decreased
resistance to salmonellosis. In contrast, CD40 ligand knockout mice
demonstrated no increased susceptibility to salmonellosis. In vitro
treatment of Salmonella-infected macrophages from BALB/c
mice with soluble trimeric CD40 ligand resulted in an elevated
production of interleukin 12p70 by these cells, suggesting a mechanism
whereby CD40-CD40 ligand interactions might enhance protective immune
responses to this pathogen. Taken together, these studies strongly
suggest that CD40-CD40 ligand interactions in normal mice play an
important protective role in immune responses against the
gram-negative, intracellular pathogen S. dublin.
0019-9567/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
CD40-CD40 Ligand Interactions Augment Survival of
Normal Mice, but Not CD40 Ligand Knockout Mice, Challenged Orally with
Salmonella dublin
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Biology, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 9201 University
City Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28223. Phone: (704) 547-2909. Fax: (704) 547-3128. E-mail: klbost{at}emailuncc.edu.
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