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Infection and Immunity, November 2002, p. 6048-6057, Vol. 70, No. 11
0019-9567/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.70.11.6048-6057.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Toxoplasma gondii Induces Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor and Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor Secretion by Human Fibroblasts: Implications for Neutrophil Apoptosis

Departments of Microbiology,¹ Medicine, Dartmouth Medical School, Lebanon, New Hampshire 03756²

Received 17 January 2002/ Returned for modification 3 April 2002/ Accepted 31 July 2002

Human neutrophils are rescued from apoptosis following incubation with once-washed, fibroblast-derived Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites. Both infected and uninfected neutrophils are rescued, implicating a soluble mediator. In this study we investigated the origin and identity of this soluble mediator. Neutrophils were incubated either with purified tachyzoites or with conditioned medium derived from T. gondii-infected human fibroblasts. Conditioned medium was found to be a potent stimulus that delayed neutrophil apoptosis up to 72 h, whereas purified and extensively washed tachyzoites had no effect. Delayed apoptosis correlated with up-regulation of the neutrophil antiapoptotic protein, Mcl-1, and the neutrophil interleukin 3 receptor subunit (IL-3R), suggesting a role for granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). GM-CSF and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) were measurable in conditioned medium by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Neutralizing antibodies to GM-CSF and G-CSF were additive in abrogating delayed neutrophil apoptosis induced by conditioned medium. Inhibitors of Src family tyrosine kinases, G_i proteins, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, p44^erk1 and p42^erk2 mitogen-activated protein kinases, and Jak2 kinases partially attenuated the effect of conditioned medium, consistent with a role for G-CSF and/or GM-CSF. Hence, delayed neutrophil apoptosis is mediated by GM-CSF and G-CSF secreted by T. gondii-infected human fibroblasts. This enhanced neutrophil survival may contribute to the robust proinflammatory response elicited in the T. gondii-infected host.

Editor: S. H. E. Kaufmann

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