Chemokine receptor CXCR3 and its ligands CXCL9 and CXCL10 are required for the development of murine cerebral malaria.

ABSTRACT: Cerebral malaria is a significant cause of global mortality, causing an estimated two million deaths per year, mainly in children. The pathogenesis of this disease remains incompletely understood. Chemokines have been implicated in the development of cerebral malaria, and the IFN-inducible CXCR3 chemokine ligand IP-10 (CXCL10) was recently found to be the only serum biomarker that predicted cerebral malaria mortality in Ghanaian children. We show that the CXCR3 chemokine ligands IP-10 and Mig (CXCL9) were highly induced in the brains of mice with murine cerebral malaria caused by Plasmodium berghei ANKA. Mice deficient in CXCR3 were markedly protected against cerebral malaria and had far fewer T cells in the brain compared with wild-type mice. In competitive transfer experiments, CXCR3-def

SUBMITTER: Campanella GS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2290783 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature