Caspase-1/11 signalling is critical for inducing cytotoxic CD8+ T cells against Trypanosoma cruzi acute infection

DIAZ LUJAN C; PAROLI A; CANO R; GONZALES PV; GEA S

Congreso; Reunion Conjunta de Sociedades de Biociencias; 2017

Sociedades de Biociencias

NLRP3 inflammasome has been reported as a protection mechanism to control T. cruzi infection during the innate immune response. Once it gets assembled, active caspase-1 cleaves the pro- IL-1β and IL-18 cytokines into its active forms. We previously demonstrated that infected nlrp3-/- in a similar way to C57BL/6 WT mice, exhibited similar parasitemias associated with Th1 and Th17 phenotype. Furthermore, high levels of transaminases and pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β and IL-6 were found in plasma of WT and nlrp3-/- mice. Here, we studied the hepatic parasite load and its relation with the liver histopathological status from WT, nlrp3-/- and casp-1/11-/- mice. Additionally, we comparatively analyzed the expression of IL-1R and IL-18R on CD8+ T cells and the expansion of IFNγ-, IL-17- and IL-10-producing CD8+ T cells during acute T. cruzi infection. Male C57BL/6 WT, nlrp3-/- and casp1/11-/- mice were infected with T. cruzi (Tulahuén). The parasitic load was increased in both knock-out (KO) strains (p