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Infection and Immunity, March 2004, p. 1306-1310, Vol. 72, No. 3
0019-9567/04/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/IAI.72.3.1306-1310.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Department of Infectious, Parasitic and Immunomediated Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome,1 Department of Experimental Pathology, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy2
Received 15 September 2003/ Returned for modification 24 November 2003/ Accepted 2 December 2003
T-cell-mediated immunity plays a central role in the host response to Cryptosporidium parvum. Human T-cell clones (TCC) were isolated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of five healthy donors with prior cryptosporidiosis by use of a C. parvum crude extract, two antigen fractions obtained by ion-exchange chromatography (IEC1 and IEC2), and two recombinant peptides (SA35 and SA40) from C. parvum sporozoites. The T-cell lines derived from the one recently infected donor had a higher proportion (26 to 38%) of T cells exhibiting the
/
T-cell receptor (
/
-TCR) than those from donors who had recovered from cryptosporidiosis several years earlier, suggesting that the
/
T-cell population is involved in the early stage of the infection. The specific TCC had the
/ß-TCR, had the phenotype CD45RO+ CD4+ CD8-, and were characterized by either hyperproduction of gamma interferon (IFN-
) alone, with a Th1 profile, or IFN-
hyperproduction together with interleukin-4 (IL-4) or IL-5 production, with a Th0 profile. SA35, SA40, IEC1, and IEC2 may be considered good targets of the cellular response against C. parvum and may play a role in maintaining the T-cell-mediated memory response to this parasite. Furthermore, the SA35 and SA40 peptides may be regarded as immunodominant antigens involved in the maintenance of the T-cell response in healthy C. parvum-sensitized persons.
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