Previous Article | Next Article ![]()
Infection and Immunity, November 2005, p. 7170-7179, Vol. 73, No. 11
0019-9567/05/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/IAI.73.11.7170-7179.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Infectious Diseases Service, Immunology Program, Department of Medicine, Sloan-Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center,1 Tri-Institutional MD/PhD Program, Sloan-Kettering Institute, New York, New York 100212
Received 26 May 2005/ Returned for modification 5 July 2005/ Accepted 8 August 2005
Aspergillus
fumigatus is an important fungal pathogen that causes invasive
pulmonary disease in immunocompromised hosts. Respiratory exposure to
A. fumigatus spores also causes allergic bronchopulmonary
aspergillosis, a Th2 CD4+-T-cell-mediated disease
that accompanies asthma. The microbial factors that influence the
differentiation of A. fumigatus-specific
CD4+ T lymphocytes into Th1 versus Th2 cells remain
incompletely defined. We therefore examined
CD4+-T-cell responses of immunologically intact mice
to intratracheal challenge with live or heat-inactivated A.
fumigatus spores. Live but not heat-inactivated fungal spores
resulted in recruitment of gamma interferon (IFN-
)-producing,
fungus-specific CD4+ T cells to lung airways,
achieving A. fumigatus-specific frequencies exceeding 5% of
total CD4+ T cells. While heat-inactivated spores
did not induce detectable levels of IFN-
-producing, A.
fumigatus-specific CD4+ T cells in the airways,
they did prime CD4+ T-cell responses in draining
lymph nodes that produced greater amounts of interleukin 4 (IL-4) and
IL-13 than T cells responding to live conidia. While immunization with
live fungal spores induced antibody responses, we found a marked
decrease in isotype-switched, A. fumigatus-specific antibodies
in sera of mice following immunization with heat-inactivated spores.
Our studies demonstrate that robust Th1 T-cell and humoral
responses are restricted to challenge with fungal spores that have the
potential to germinate and cause invasive infection. How the adaptive
immune system distinguishes between metabolically active and inactive
fungal spores remains an important
question.
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»