Cross-talk between CD31 and the SLAM-associated protein (SAP) during IFN-g production against Mycobacterium tuberculosis

QUIROGA M. FLORENCIA; JURADO JAVIER O; MARTÍNEZ GUSTAVO J; PASQUINELLI VIRGINIA; MUSELLA ROSA M; ABBATE EDUARDO; ISSEKUTZ ANDREW; BRACCO MARÍA M; MALBRÁN ALEJANDRO; SIELING PETER A; CHULUYAN H. EDUARDO; GARCÍA VERÓNICA E

JOURNAL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES

UNIV CHICAGO PRESS

Año: 2007 vol. 196 p. 1369 - 1378

0022-1899

Effective host defense against tuberculosis requires Th1 cytokine responses. We studied the regulation of interferon (IFN)- gamma production during tuberculosis by investigating the role of CD31, a receptor that attenuates T cell receptor signals. After antigen stimulation, CD3(+)CD31(+) blood lymphocytes decreased in healthy donors and in tuberculosis patients with robust Th1 responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis and IFN- gamma was secreted only by CD31(-) T cells. In contrast, in patients with weak Th1 cytokine responses to M. tuberculosis, the level of CD3(+)CD31(+) lymphocytes was increased and IFN- gamma production was low. Furthermore, the inverse relationship between CD31 expression and IFN- gamma production was in contrast to signaling lymphocytic activation molecule (SLAM) expression, an IFN- gamma inducer in tuberculosis. Interestingly, CD31 bound to SLAM-associated protein (SAP), an IFN- gamma inhibitor in tuberculosis, and when CD31 and SAP were coexpressed in lymphocytes, their association inhibited the IFN- gamma response to M. tuberculosis. Thus, CD31, when binding to SAP, interferes with Th1 responses, suggesting that CD31 has a key regulatory role in the signaling pathway(s) leading to the IFN- gamma response to M. tuberculosis