CD8+ T cells remove cysts of Toxoplasma gondii from the brain mostly by recognizing epitopes commonly expressed by or cross-reactive between type II and type III strains of the parasite

Microbes Infect. 2016 Apr 12. pii: S1286-4579(16)30025-9. doi: 10.1016/j.micinf.2016.03.013. [Epub ahead of print]

Ochiai E¹, Sa Q¹, Perkins S¹, Grigg ME², Suzuki Y³.

Our previous study demonstrated that CD8⁺ T cells remove cysts of Toxoplasma gondii from the brain through perforin-mediated mechanisms. We here show that a transfer of CD8⁺ immune T cells primed with a type II or a type III strain of T. gondii both efficiently removed cysts of a type II strain from infected SCID mice, although the former tended to be slightly more efficient than the latter. Similarly, a transfer of type II-primed CD8⁺ T cells removed cysts of a type III strain. Therefore, CD8⁺ T cells are capable of removing T. gondii cysts by recognizing epitopes commonly expressed in types II and III strains or cross-reactive between these two genotypes.
Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.

KEYWORDS:

CD8(+) T cells; Toxoplasma gondii; cyst; genotype; perforin

PMID:

27083473

[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]