Bacterial clearance reverses a skewed T-cell repertoire induced by Salmonella infection.

Salmonella typhimurium invades the spleen, liver, and peripheral lymph nodes and has recently been detected in the bone marrow and thymus, resulting in a reduced thymic size and a decline in the total number of thymic cells. A specific deletion of the double-positive cell subset has been characterized, yet the export of mature T cells to the periphery remains normal. We analyzed Salmonella pathogenesis regarding thymic structure and the T-cell maturation process. We demonstrate that, despite alterations in the thymic structure, T-cell development is maintained during Salmonella infection, allowing the selection of single-positive T-cell clones expressing particular T-cell receptor beta chains (TCR-Vß). Moreover, the treatment of infected mice with an antibiotic restored the normal thymic architecture and thymocyte subset distribution. Additionally, the frequency of TCR-Vß usage after treatment was comparable to that in non-infected mice. However, bacteria were still recovered from the thymus after 1 month of treatment. Our data reveal that a skewed T-cell developmental process is present in the Salmonella-infected thymus that alters the TCR-Vß usage frequency. Likewise, the post-treatment persistence of Salmonella reveals a novel function of the thymus as a potential reservoir for this infectious agent.

Salmonella impairs CD8 T cell response through PD-1: PD-L axis.

We have shown that Salmonella remains for a long period of time within B cells, plasma cells, and bone marrow B cell precursors, which might allow persistence and dissemination of infection. Nonetheless, how infected cells evade CD8 T cell response has not been characterized. Evidence indicates that some pathogens exploit the PD-1: PD-L (PD-L1 and PD-L2) interaction to inhibit CD8 T cells response to contribute the chronicity of the infection. To determine whether the PD-1: PD-L axis plays a role during Salmonella infection; we evaluated PD-1 expression in antigen-specific CD8 T cells and PD-1 ligands in Salmonella-infected cells. Our results show that infected B cells and macrophages express continuously co-stimulatory (CD40, CD80, and CD86) and inhibitory molecules (PD-L1 and PD-L2) in early and late stages of chronic Salmonella infection, while antigen-specific CD8 T cells express in a sustained manner PD-1 in the late stages of infection. Blocking this axis restores the ability of the CD8 T cells to proliferate and eliminate primary infected APCs. Therefore, a continuous PD-1: PDL interaction might be a mechanism employed by Salmonella to negatively regulate Salmonella-specific CD8 T cell cytotoxic response in order to remain within the host for a long period of time.