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Infection and Immunity, January 2001, p. 213-220, Vol. 69, No. 1
The First Department of Internal Medicine,
Faculty of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus,
Okinawa,1 and CREST (Core Research for
Evolutional Science and Technology) Project, Department of Molecular
Immunology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University,
Chiba,2 Japan
Received 15 May 2000/Returned for modification 30 June
2000/Accepted 5 October 2000
We examined the effect of
0019-9567/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/IAI.69.1.213-220.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Activation of V
14+ Natural Killer T Cells by
-Galactosylceramide Results in Development of Th1 Response and
Local Host Resistance in Mice Infected with
Cryptococcus neoformans
-galactosylceramide (
-GalCer) on
the synthesis of gamma interferon (IFN-
) and local resistance in
mice infected intravenously with Cryptococcus neoformans.
The level of IFN-
in serum increased on day 3, reached a peak level on day 7, and decreased to the basal level on day 14 postinfection in
mice treated with
-GalCer, while in vehicle-treated mice, no
increase was detected at any time points except for a small increase on
day 7. Such effects were not observed in NKT-KO mice. In CD4KO mice,
minor synthesis of IFN-
was detected on day 3 in sera but was
completely abolished by day 7. The
-GalCer-induced IFN-
production on day 3 was partially reduced in mice depleted of NK cells
by treatment with anti-asialo-GM1 antibody (Ab). Spleen cells obtained from infected and
-GalCer-treated mice on day 7 produced a large amount of IFN-
upon restimulation with live organisms, while only a marginal level of production was detected in
splenocytes from infected and vehicle-treated mice. Such effects were
abolished in CD4KO and NKT-KO mice. Finally, the fungal loads in the
lungs and spleen on days 7 and 14 were significantly reduced in
-GalCer-treated mice compared to those in control mice. In NKT-KO
mice, local resistance elicited by
-GalCer was completely abolished,
although no obvious exacerbation of infection was detected. Furthermore, treatment with anti-IFN-
monoclonal Ab mostly abrogated the protective effect of this agent. Thus, our results indicated that
activation of V
14+ NKT cells resulted in an increased
Th1 response and local resistance to C. neoformans through
production of IFN-
.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: The First
Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of the
Ryukyus, 207 Uehara, Nishihara, Okinawa 903-0215, Japan. Phone: 81(98) 895-1144. Fax: 81(98) 895-1414. E-mail:
kawakami{at}med.u-ryukyu.ac.jp.
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