An early burst of IFN-gamma induced by the pre-erythrocytic stage favours Plasmodium yoelii parasitaemia in B6 mice.

BACKGROUND: In murine models of malaria, an early proinflammatory response has been associated with the resolution of blood-stage infection. To dissect the protective immune mechanism that allow the control of parasitaemia, the early immune response of C57BL/6 mice induced during a non-lethal plasmodial infection was analysed. METHODS: Mice were infected with Plasmodium yoelii 265BY sporozoites, the natural invasive form of the parasite, in order to complete its full life cycle. The concentrations of three proinflammatory cytokines in the sera of mice were determined by ELISA at different time points of infection. The contribution of the liver and the spleen to this cytokinic response was evaluated and the cytokine-producing lymphocytes were identified by flow cytometry. The physiological relevance of these results was tested by monitoring parasitaemia in genetically deficient C57BL/6 mice or wild-type mice treated with anti-cytokine neutralizing antibody. Finally, the cytokinic response in sera of mice infected with parasitized-RBCs was analysed. RESULTS: The early immune response of C57BL/6 mice to sporozoite-induced malaria is characterized by a peak of IFN-gamma in the serum at day 5 of infection and splenic CD4 T lymphocytes are the major producer of this cytokine at this time point. Somewhat unexpected, the parasitaemia is significantly lower in P. yoelii-infected mice in the absence of IFN-gamma. More precisely, at early time points of infection, IFN-gamma favours parasitaemia, whereas helping to clear efficiently the blood-stage parasites at later time points. Interestingly, the early IFN-gamma burst is induced by the pre-erythrocytic stage. CONCLUSION: These results challenge the current view regarding the role of IFN-gamma on the control of parasite growth since they show that IFN-gamma is not an essential mediator of protection in P. yoelii-infected C57BL/6 mice. Moreover, the mice parasitaemia is more efficiently controlled in the absence of an early IFN-gamma production, suggesting that this cytokine promotes parasite's growth. Finally, this early burst of IFN-gamma is induced by the pre-erythrocytic stage, showing the impact of this stage on the immune response taking place during the subsequent erythrocytic stage.

Marginal zone B cell enrichment and strong follicular B cell reduction correlate with a delayed IgG response in a light chain diversity restricted mouse model.

Recently developed B6.kappa(-)lambda(SEG) mice (by crossing kappa(-) and C57BL/6 mice congenic for the wild Mus spretus SEG strain lambda locus lacking genes coding for lambda1 and lambda3) have a very reduced light chain diversity. B6.kappa(-)lambda(SEG) mice produce only lambda2 and lambdax light chains. Regardless of their Igh haplotype, B6.kappa(-)lambda(SEG) mice show a restricted B cell distribution by light chain subtype with lambdax dominance in all peripheral compartments except peritoneal cavity where lambda2 is dominant. This distribution suggests that selection mechanisms act differently in different B cell compartments on lambda2 and lambdax bearing B cells. Sequence analysis before or following immunization did not reveal unusual mechanisms of diversification. B6.kappa(-)lambda(SEG) mice still respond to various challenging antigens using new Ab patterns. In particular, regardless of Igh(a) or Igh(b) haplotypes, the anti-2,4-dinitrophenyl response is characterized by a restricted diversity for both heavy and light chains and a delayed IgG response when compared to B6 and B6.kappa(-) mice. We suggest that the delayed IgG response is due to the expansion of marginal zone B cells whereas follicular B cells are strongly reduced.

Constitutive endocytosis and degradation of the pre-T cell receptor.

The pre-T cell receptor (TCR) signals constitutively in the absence of putative ligands on thymic stroma and signal transduction correlates with translocation of the pre-TCR into glycolipid-enriched microdomains (rafts) in the plasma membrane. Here, we show that the pre-TCR is constitutively routed to lysosomes after reaching the cell surface. The cell-autonomous down-regulation of the pre-TCR requires activation of the src-like kinase p56(lck), actin polymerization, and dynamin. Constitutive signaling and degradation represents a feature of the pre-TCR because the gammadeltaTCR expressed in the same cell line does not exhibit these features. This is also evident by the observation that the protein adaptor/ubiquitin ligase c-Cbl is phosphorylated and selectively translocated into rafts in pre-TCR- but not gammadeltaTCR-expressing cells. A role of c-Cbl-mediated ubiquitination in pre-TCR degradation is supported by the reduction of degradation through pharmacological inhibition of the proteasome and through a dominant-negative c-Cbl ubiquitin ligase as well as by increased pre-TCR surface expression on immature thymocytes in c-Cbl-deficient mice. The pre-TCR internalization contributes significantly to the low surface level of the receptor on developing T cells, and may in fact be a requirement for optimal pre-TCR function.