Impairment of T Cell Function in Parasitic Infections

• Type: Another Publication in an International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2014

Authors

Vasco Rodrigues (Author) Other; Anabela Cordeiro da Silva (Author) FFUP; Mireille Laforge (Author) Other; Ali Ouaissi (Author) Other; Khadija Akharid (Author) Other; Ricardo Silvestre (Author) Other; Jerome Estaquier (Author) Other

Journal

Title: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases

Vol. 8

Final page: e2567

ISSN: 1935-2727

Publisher: Public Library of Science

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 37 Citations

Scopus - 53 Citations

Scientific classification

FOS: Medical and Health sciences > Health sciences

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-009-KHM

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0002567

Abstract (EN): In mammals subverted as hosts by protozoan parasites, the latter and/or the agonists they release are detected and processed by sensors displayed by many distinct immune cell lineages, in a tissue(s)-dependent context. Focusing on the T lymphocyte lineage, we review our present understanding on its transient or durable functional impairment over the course of the developmental program of the intracellular parasites Leishmania spp., Plasmodium spp., Toxoplasma gondii, and Trypanosoma cruzi in their mammalian hosts. Strategies employed by protozoa to down-regulate T lymphocyte function may act at the initial moment of naive T cell priming, rendering T cells anergic or unresponsive throughout infection, or later, exhausting T cells due to antigen persistence. Furthermore, by exploiting host feedback mechanisms aimed at maintaining immune homeostasis, parasites can enhance T cell apoptosis. We will discuss how infections with prominent intracellular protozoan parasites lead to a general down-regulation of T cell function through T cell anergy and exhaustion, accompanied by apoptosis, and ultimately allowing pathogen persistence.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 10