Monday, June 22, 2015

Cutting Edge: IFN-γ Produced by Brain-Resident Cells Is Crucial To Control Cerebral Infection with Toxoplasma gondii

 2015 Jun 19. pii: 1500814. [Epub ahead of print]

Abstract

In vitro studies demonstrated that microglia and astrocytes produce IFN-γ in response to various stimulations, including LPS. However, the physiological role of IFN-γ production by brain-resident cells, including glial cells, in resistance against cerebral infections remains unknown. We analyzed the role of IFN-γ production by brain-resident cells in resistance to reactivation of cerebral infection with Toxoplasma gondii using a murine model. Our study using bone marrow chimeric mice revealed that IFN-γ production by brain-resident cells is essential for upregulating IFN-γ-mediated protective innate immune responses to restrict cerebral T. gondii growth. Studies using a transgenic strain that expresses IFN-γ only in CD11b+ cells suggested that IFN-γ production by microglia, which is the only CD11b+ cell population among brain-resident cells, is able to suppress the parasite growth. Furthermore, IFN-γ produced by brain-resident cells is pivotal for recruiting T cells into the brain to control the infection. These results indicate that IFN-γ produced by brain-resident cells is crucial for facilitating both the protective innate and T cell-mediated immune responses to control cerebral infection with T. gondii.
Copyright © 2015 by The American Association of Immunologists, Inc.
PMID:
 
26091720
 
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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