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Infection and Immunity, February 2001, p. 1002-1008, Vol. 69, No. 2
Department of Veterinary PathoBiology,
University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota 55108
Received 16 June 2000/Returned for modification 16 August
2000/Accepted 23 October 2000
Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis
and Mycobacterium avium subsp. avium are
antigenically and genetically very similar organisms; however, they
differ markedly in their virulence for cattle. We evaluated the
capacity of bovine macrophages infected with M. avium
subsp. paratuberculosis or M. avium subsp.
avium to express major histocompatibility complex (MHC)
class I and class II antigens on their surface and to interact with
primed autologous lymphocytes. Our results indicate that infection of bovine macrophages with M. avium subsp.
paratuberculosis promoted the downregulation of MHC class I
and class II molecules on the macrophage surface within 24 and 12 h, respectively. Alternatively, MHC class II expression by M. avium subsp. avium-infected macrophages was not
detected until 24 h after infection, and the magnitude of the
decrease was smaller. Decreased MHC class I expression by M. avium subsp. avium-infected macrophages was not
detected. Unlike M. avium subsp.
paratuberculosis-infected macrophages, M. avium
subsp. avium-infected macrophages upregulated MHC class I
and class II expression after activation by gamma interferon or tumor
necrosis factor alpha. Further, M. avium subsp.
avium-infected macrophages were lysed by primed autologous
lymphocytes, whereas M. avium subsp.
paratuberculosis-infected macrophages were not. Overall,
the results support the hypothesis that the difference in the virulence
of M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis and
M. avium subsp. avium for cattle is dependent
on a difference in the capacity of the organisms to suppress
mycobacterial antigen presentation to T lymphocytes.
0019-9567/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/IAI.69.2.1002-1008.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Regulation of Expression of Major
Histocompatibility Antigens by Bovine Macrophages Infected with
Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis or
Mycobacterium avium subsp. avium
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Veterinary PathoBiology, University of Minnesota, 1971 Commonwealth
Ave., St. Paul, MN 55108. Phone: (612) 625-9242. Fax: (612) 625-5203. E-mail: weiss005{at}tc.umn.edu.
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