Outcome of infection with different strains of Trypanosoma cruzi in mice lacking CD4 and/or CD8

ROTTENBERG ME; RIARTE ADELINA; SPORRONG L; ALTCHEH J; PETRAY P; RUIZ AM; WIGZELL H; ORN A

IMMUNOLOGY LETTERS

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 1995 vol. 45 p. 53 - 60

0165-2478

Mice lacking CD4 and/or CD8 gene expression, generated by embryonic stem-celltechnology, were used to study the role of CD4+ and CD8+ cells in the resistance to the acute infection with virulent (Tulahuén and RA) or mild (CA-I) strains of Trypanosoma cruzi. The presence of both CD4+ and CD8+ cells contributed to thesurvival of mice infected with T. cruzi, and each T-cell subtype was able tosustain protective functions in the absence of the other one. However, in certainhost-parasite combinations, CD8+ cell-independent mechanisms were able to controlthe parasite load. Moreover, CD8- mice chronically infected with a low virulentstrain of T. cruzi were protected from an otherwise lethal challenge with theparasite. A different organ distribution of parasite nests was observed whenmutant (but not wild type) animals infected with different parasite strains were compared. CD4- mice produced high levels of IgG antibodies against peptideantigens or a whole homogenate from the parasite after infection with CA-Istrain. A dramatic enhancement of IgG1- and IgG2a-specific antibodies wasobserved