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Immune responses to Pneumocystis murina are robust in healthy mice but largely absent in CD40 ligand-deficient mice.

ABSTRACT: Pneumocystis is a pathogen of immunocompromised hosts but can also infect healthy hosts, in whom infection is rapidly controlled and cleared. Microarray methods were used to examine differential gene expression in the lungs of C57BL/6 and CD40 ligand knockout (CD40L-KO) mice over time following exposure to Pneumocystis murina. Immunocompetent C57BL/6 mice, which control and clear infection efficiently, showed a robust response to infection characterized by the up-regulation of 349 primarily immune response-associated genes. Temporal changes in the expression of these genes identified an early (Week 2), primarily innate response, which waned before the infection was controlled; this was followed by primarily adaptive immune responses that peaked at Week 5, which coincided with clearance of the infection. In conjunction with the latter, there was an increased expression of B cell-associated (Ig) genes at Week 6 that persisted through 11 weeks. In contrast, CD40L-KO mice, which are highly susceptible to developing severe Pneumocystis pneumonia, showed essentially no up-regulation of immune response-associated genes at Days 35-75. Immunohistochemical staining supported these observations by demonstrating an increase in CD4+, CD68+, and CD19+ cells in C57BL/6 but not CD40L-KO mice. Thus, the healthy host demonstrates a robust, biphasic response to infection by Pneumocystis; CD40L is an essential upstream regulator of the adaptive immune responses that efficiently control infection and prevent development of progressive pneumonia.

SUBMITTER: Hernandez-Novoa B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2493075 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Immune responses to Pneumocystis murina are robust in healthy mice but largely absent in CD40 ligand-deficient mice.

Hernandez-Novoa Beatriz B Bishop Lisa L Logun Carolea C Munson Peter J PJ Elnekave Eldad E Rangel Zoila G ZG Barb Jennifer J Danner Robert L RL Kovacs Joseph A JA

Journal of leukocyte biology 20080508 2

Pneumocystis is a pathogen of immunocompromised hosts but can also infect healthy hosts, in whom infection is rapidly controlled and cleared. Microarray methods were used to examine differential gene expression in the lungs of C57BL/6 and CD40 ligand knockout (CD40L-KO) mice over time following exposure to Pneumocystis murina. Immunocompetent C57BL/6 mice, which control and clear infection efficiently, showed a robust response to infection characterized by the up-regulation of 349 primarily immu ...[more]

PMID: 18467653

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Project description:Pneumocystis is a pathogen of immunocompromised hosts but can also infect healthy hosts, in whom infection is rapidly controlled and cleared. To better understand the immune mechanisms contributing to clearance of infection, microarray methods were used to examine differential gene expression in the lungs of C57BL/6 and CD40 ligand knock-out (CD40L-KO) mice over time following exposure to Pneumocystis. Immuncompetent C57BL/6 mice, which control and clear infection efficiently, showed a robust response to infection characterized by the upregulation of 349 primarily immune-response associated genes. Temporal changes in the expression of these genes suggested that there was an early (week 2) primarily innate response, that waned without controlling infection; this were followed by primarily adaptive immune responses that peaked at week 5 and successfully cleared the infection. In conjunction with the latter, there was an increased expression of B cell associated (immunoglobulin) genes at week 6 that persisted through 11 weeks. In contrast, CD40L-KO mice, which are highly susceptible to developing severe Pneumocystis pneumonia, showed essentially no upregulation of immune-response associated genes at days 35 to 75. Immunohistochemical staining supported these observations by demonstrating an increase in CD4+, CD68+, and CD19+ cells in C57BL/6 but not CD40L-KO mice. Thus, the healthy host demonstrates a robust biphasic response to infection by Pneumocystis; CD40 ligand is an essential upstream regulator of the adaptive immune responses that efficiently control infection and prevent development of progressive pneumonia. Keywords: Time course response Pneumocystis murina infection wild type versus CD40L-KO mice In experiment 1, C57BL/6 and CD40L-KO mice were co-housed in 2 cages; one cage was exposed to a P. murina-infected seeder, while the second was unexposed. Mice (3 per group) were sacrificed at day 32. Because the initial study demonstrated very little change in gene expression in CD40L-KO mice, only C57BL/6 mice were used for experiments 2 and 3. In Experiment 2, three cages (10 animals/cage) were set up: 2 cages were exposed to P. murina, and one was unexposed. Animals (5 per cage) were sacrificed at days 34 and 41. In Experiment 3, which focused on gene expression early after exposure to P. murina, five cages (9-10 animals/cage) were set up, of which 3 were exposed and 2 were unexposed. Animals (1-3 per cage) were sacrificed at days 7, 14 and 21 of exposure. Experiment 4 was designed to verify the initial results in CD40L-KO mice, and included 5 unexposed controls and 4 mice exposed for 35 days.

Dataset Information

Immune responses to Pneumocystis murina are robust in healthy mice but largely absent in CD40 ligand-deficient mice.

Publications

Immune responses to Pneumocystis murina are robust in healthy mice but largely absent in CD40 ligand-deficient mice.

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