Previous Article | Next Article ![]()
Infection and Immunity, September 2004, p. 5487-5492, Vol. 72, No. 9
0019-9567/04/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/IAI.72.9.5487-5492.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
UMR Université-INRA d'Immunologie Parasitaire et Vaccinologie, UFR des Sciences Pharmaceutiques, Tours,1 Unité Réponse Précoce aux Parasites et Immunopathologie, Institut Pasteur/Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Paris, France2
Received 13 March 2004/ Returned for modification 18 April 2004/ Accepted 15 June 2004
|
|
|---|
|
|
|---|
Infection of C57BL/6 mice by intragastric delivery of T. gondii 76K strain cysts (15 cysts/mouse, from a CBA/J mouse brain homogenate infected for 1 month) leads to a 2.3-fold increase of extravascular leukocytes in the lungs at day 11 postinfection (Table 1). Primed and unprimed pulmonary leukocytes isolated from infected and naive mice, respectively, were separated into two different subsets according to their plastic adherence properties. This result is correlated with an increase of adherent cells (4.3-fold) and to a lesser extent nonadherent cells (1.7-fold). Both alveolar macrophages and interstitial dendritic cells that compose the adherent cell fraction of pulmonary leukocytes (10, 11, 18) are potent immunosuppressive cells (2, 32). We consequently investigated the phenotypes of primed and unprimed adherent cells with triple-staining flow cytometry analysis (Fig. 1A, left panel). Most of the unprimed adherent cells (up to 70%) exhibited a typical alveolar macrophage phenotype: Mac3hi CD11c+ CD11b GR1 CD8
. They also included almost 15% lymphoid dendritic cells (Mac3 CD11c+ CD11b GR1 CD8
+) and an average 4% myeloid monocyte-like cells (Mac3low CD11c CD11b+ GR1+ CD8
). After infection, the adherent population in the lungs dramatically changed. The pulmonary Mac3low CD11c CD11b+ GR1+ myeloid cell population was highly expanded, representing an average 70% of the adherent population (a 17.5-fold increase). Adherent primed cells also contained an undefined population expressing a CD11b+ CD8
+ GR1+ CD11c phenotype (10%) and a few T cells (average of 8% CD3+ CD11b GR1 cells). Infection of mice was also associated with an increase of T lymphocytes in the nonadherent cell fraction (Fig. 1A, right panel). Despite the presence of a few nonadherent macrophages (Mac3+), the amount of CD3+ T lymphocytes was dramatically increased (4.2-fold in absolute number) over that of unprimed counterparts. The absolute numbers of CD4+, CD8+, and 
T lymphocytes increased 9.8-, 2-, and 5.5-fold, respectively, with infection.
|
View this table: [in a new window] |
TABLE 1. Increase of pulmonary cell number with infection (day 11 postinfection)
|
![]() View larger version (40K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 1. (A) Phenotype of pulmonary cells from naive or infected mice (unprimed or primed cells, respectively) was determined by flow cytometry. Adherent cell fractions (left panel) obtained after 90 min of plastic adherence and removal of nonadherent fractions were triple stained with the specific anti-CD11c/anti-GR1/anti-CD11b, anti-CD11c/anti-Mac3/anti-CD11b, anti-CD8 /anti-GR1/anti-CD11b, or anti-CD3/anti-GR1/anti-CD11b antibodies (fluorescein isothiocyanate-, phycoerythrin-, or TriColor-labeled antibodies, respectively). Isotypic antibodies were used as a background control of unspecific labeling. The nonadherent (right panel) cell fractions were stained with phycoerythrin-labeled anti-Mac-3 or fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled specific anti-CD3, anti-CD4, anti-CD8, or anti-![]() T-cell receptor antibodies (thick line) or with isotypic controls (line with shaded area). Dead cells were first excluded from analysis by viability staining using 7-aminoactinomycin D. Percentages of the population (#) represent one of three separate experiments with the same instrument settings for each group (n = 3 to 5). F.I., fluorescence intensity. (B) Proliferative responses of pulmonary nonadherent and adherent cells (5 x 104) were determined by [3H]thymidine incorporation after a 3-day culture period upon stimulation by ConA or TAg. Cells were then harvested, and proliferation was measured with a scintillation counter. Results are means ± standard deviations (n = 3 to 5 mice), representative of triplicate wells per condition for each experiment, repeated there times. *, P 0.0001; **, P 0.001; ***, P 0.01 (primed versus unprimed values for the same condition [alone, ConA, or TAg]). (C) Unprimed and primed nonadherent or adherent viable cells (5 x 104) from lungs were cocultured in vitro for 2 days with freshly isolated syngeneic lymphocyte-enriched fraction (5 x 104) from spleen tissue of naive mice. [3H]thymidine was then added for another 18-h period. Results are representative of more than three separate experiments with means ± standard deviations (n = 3 to 5 mice). *, P 0.001 (primed versus unprimed from the same condition [alone or with ConA]).
|
Consistent with the fact that after infection GR1+ CD11b+ myeloid cells became the predominant population of the adherent cell fraction, we investigated the chemokine receptor profile of these cells. GR1+ CD11b+ myeloid cells from infected mice expressed higher levels of mRNA for CCR1, CCR5, and to a lesser extent CCR2 than alveolar macrophages from naive animals (Fig. 2A). These results are consistent with the expression by pulmonary leukocytes of inflammatory chemokines, such as RANTES, macrophage inflammatory protein 1 alpha, and macrophage inflammatory protein 1 beta, the ligands of CCR1 and CCR5, and the CCR2 ligand, monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (data not shown). These observations suggest that GR1+ CD11b+ cells might be recruited into inflammatory tissues during acute infection. Recent studies described the expansion of these suppressive cells in the peritoneal cavity in response to the injection of oligosaccharides from Schistosoma mansoni (4, 30). The mRNA analysis of unprimed and primed adherent cells showed a significant increase in CD80 and CD40 mRNA expression but not in CD86 mRNA expression (Fig. 2B). Expression of CD95 and CD95L mRNA (Fig. 2B) was enhanced in primed GR1+ CD11b+ cells compared with that in unprimed alveolar macrophages.
![]() View larger version (27K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 2. Chemokine expression (A) was assayed with 5 µg of total RNA from naive (five mice) or primed (three mice) adherent cells with RNase protection assay using the mCR5 Riboquant template set, including CCR1, CCR1b, CCR2, CCR3, CCR4, CCR5, L32, and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate-dehydrogenase (GAPDH). Specific mRNA expression was normalized to housekeeping gene expression (L32 plus GAPDH) and is expressed in relative densitometry values. CD80, CD86, CD40, Fas, FasL, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF- ) expression (B) was detected by reverse transcription-PCR analysis of 1 µg of total RNA. mRNA levels were standardized to ß-actin expression as an internal control. Data are representative of three independent experiments with similar results.
|
), inducible NO synthetase, and interleukin 10 (IL-10) over expression by unprimed adherent cells (not shown). These results correlated with the secretion of IFN-
, IL-10 (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA], OptEIA; Pharmingen), and NO (Griess assay method) components from primed and unprimed adherent cells (106 cells) after 48 h of in vitro culture (Fig. 3A). Primed adherent cells indeed secreted larger amount of IFN-
, IL-10, and NO than unprimed counterparts. NO synthesis has a dichotomous role in toxoplasmosis (15). It participates in eradication of the parasites from infected macrophages but also plays an important role in splenic hyporesponsiveness observed during acute infection (23). We thus investigated the mechanism of immunoregulation. Primed or unprimed adherent cells were coincubated with unprimed responding lymphocytes in the presence of inhibitors, such as the inducible NO synthetase inhibitor NG-monomethyl-L-arginine (l-NMMA) (Sigma) or Boc-d-FMK (pan-caspases inhibitor; Calbiochem), or in the presence of recombinant murine IL-2 (rmIL-2) (Sigma). l-NMMA completely abolished the inhibitory effect of adherent primed cells, since the rate of [3H]thymidine incorporation under this ConA-stimulating condition was not significantly different from that with responding lymphocytes alone (Fig. 3B). This result suggests that NO synthesis by GR1+ CD11b+ cells is responsible for the hyporesponsiveness. Neither the Boc-d-FMK inhibitor nor rmIL-2 suppressed the regulatory activity of GR1+ CD11b+ cells (data not shown). Geissmann and colleagues have recently shown that murine GR1+ CD11b+ blood monocytes migrated into the peritoneal cavity after thioglycolate injection (8) and differentiated into dendritic cells, triggering T-cell activation. We can thus speculate that GR1+ CD11b+ cells might have different properties according to the nature of the stimulation.
![]() View larger version (28K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 3. (A) Unprimed and primed adherent cells (106) were incubated in vitro for 48 h in complete medium, and supernatants were collected. Determination of IFN- and IL-10 secretion into supernatants was assessed by ELISA, and NO products were evaluated by the Griess method. Data are mean values ± standard deviations for three separate experiments. *, P 0.0001; **, P 0.05 (primed versus unprimed values). (B) Responding spleen lymphocytes from naive mice were coincubated in vitro with unprimed or primed adherent pulmonary cells (n = 3 to 5 mice per group during 3 days in medium alone or supplemented with ConA and in the presence or not of NO synthesis inhibitor l-NMMA (1 mM; Sigma). Cells were tested for [3H]thymidine incorporation (for the last 18 h) to evaluate their proliferation. Data are mean values ± standard deviations for results representative of three experiments with similar results. *, P 0.002 (primed versus unprimed from the same condition [alone or with ConA]).
|
, IL-2, and IL-10 cytokines and the NO molecule after a 48-h in vitro culture period. IFN-
synthesis from total primed leukocytes was highly enhanced compared with that from unprimed cells, especially from purified CD4+ T lymphocytes, which secreted the largest amount of this cytokine (Fig. 4A). These primed cells also exhibited greater production of IL-10 than unprimed cells. However, total primed leukocytes produced larger quantities of IL-10 than primed CD4+ T lymphocytes. Primed pulmonary leukocytes released the NO molecule, as determined by the dosage of nitrites in supernatants, whereas unprimed cells did not. Purified CD4+ T lymphocytes also produced nitrites. Conversely, CD8+ T lymphocytes generated neither IFN-
nor IL-10 nor NO synthesis, suggesting that these cells were not implicated in the production of proinflammatory molecules (IFN-
and NO) or regulatory cytokines (IL-10). Interestingly, IL-2 synthesis was profoundly altered. Primed leukocytes secreted a small amount of IL-2, and primed CD4+ T cells did not synthesize much more of this cytokine than unprimed counterparts. Surprisingly, primed CD8+ T cells secreted low but significant (P
0.005) level of IL-2. A defect in IL-2 synthesis has been previously observed in splenocytes (14) and was independent of NO synthesis (6). We also observed by flow cytometry that primed CD4+ and CD8+ cells had an activated phenotype expressing both CD25 and CD69 molecules with the infection (data not shown) compared with unprimed purified cells. We demonstrated that despite removal of the immunoregulatory GR1+ CD11b+ population, neither nonadherent primed lymphocytes nor microbead-purified primed CD4+ and CD8+ cells responded to ConA stimulation in an [3H]thymidine incorporation assay in vitro (Fig. 4B). The lack of proliferation of purified CD4+ and CD8+ T cells following mitogenic stimulation and the defect in IL-2 synthesis but not in that of its receptor subunit CD25 might suggest that lymphocytes were induced in anergy in vivo. To address this question, primed and unprimed CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes were purified and incubated in complete medium alone or stimulated with ConA in the presence or not of a large amount (30 U/ml) of exogenous rmIL-2 (Fig. 4B). We observed that unprimed CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes responded to IL-2 stimulation, since they significantly proliferated in medium alone compared with IL-2-untreated cells. In the presence of ConA stimulation, unprimed CD4+ T lymphocytes proliferated equally with or without exogenous IL-2. ConA stimulation has previously been involved in the proliferation of purified T lymphocytes through the activation of IL-2 secretion (6, 27). Unprimed CD8+ T lymphocytes responded efficiently only when both ConA and exogenous IL-2 were added to the culture medium, since they did proliferate maximally with these two stimulating molecules compared to results for IL-2-untreated unprimed counterparts. Our results also demonstrated that exogenous IL-2 abolished hyporesponsiveness of primed CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes (Fig. 4B), suggesting that infection with T. gondii induced an IL-2-reversible anergy of these cells. Both lymphocytes indeed merely proliferated in medium alone in the presence of a large amount of recombinant murine IL-2. However, when rmIL-2 was added to ConA-supplemented medium, both CD4+ and CD8+ purified T cells from infected mice proliferated somewhat compared to IL-2-untreated but ConA-treated counterparts. Consistent with their activated phenotype, we can speculate that addition of both IL-2 and ConA induced inhibitory signals that may trigger lymphocyte activation-induced cell death, consistent with other infection models (20-21, 25). This hypothesis correlates with our unpublished observations showing an increase in cell death among primed pulmonary leukocytes incubated alone for 48 h in vitro compared to apoptosis within the unprimed cell population, expecially in the presence of ConA.
![]() View larger version (25K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 4. (A) Pulmonary leukocytes, CD4+ and CD8+ microbead-purified T lymphocytes (MACS; Myltenyi Biotec) from naive or D11-infected mice, were incubated (106 cells per well) for 48 h in vitro in complete medium. Supernatants were then assayed for IFN- , IL-2, and IL-10 secretion by ELISA. NO production was titrated by the Griess experimental procedure. *, P 0.005 (primed versus unprimed values). Results are representative mean values from more than three separate experiments with three to five mice per group. (B) Unprimed and primed CD4+ and CD8+ purified T lymphocytes were tested in vitro to evaluate their proliferative response under ConA stimulation using an [3H]thymidine incorporation assay. Data are means ± standard deviations for triplicate results; *, P 0.0001; **, P 0.001; ***, P 0.01 (primed versus unprimed values for the same conditions [alone or ConA]).
|
We thank Genevieve Milon for helpful discussion and her comments on the manuscript.
|
|
|---|
This article has been cited by other articles:
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology. For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»