Journal
JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY
Volume 204, Issue 7, Pages 1798-1809Publisher
AMER ASSOC IMMUNOLOGISTS
DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.1900725
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- Swiss National Science Foundation [310030_169928]
- Bangerter-Rhyner-Foundation
- Research Fund of the University of Fribourg
- Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) [310030_169928] Funding Source: Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF)
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Plasmodium spp., the causative agent of malaria, have a complex life cycle. The exponential growth of the parasites during the blood stage is responsible for almost all malaria-associated morbidity and mortality. Therefore, tight immune control of the intraerythrocytic replication of the parasite is essential to prevent clinical malaria. Despite evidence that the particular lymphocyte subset of gamma delta T cells contributes to protective immunity during the blood stage in naive hosts, their precise inhibitory mechanisms remain unclear. Using human PBMCs, we confirmed in this study that gamma delta T cells specifically and massively expanded upon activation with Plasmodium falciparum culture supernatant. We also demonstrate that these activated cells gain cytolytic potential by upregulating cytotoxic effector proteins and IFN-gamma. The killer cells bound to infected RBCs and killed intracellular P. falciparum via the transfer of the granzymes, which was mediated by granulysin in a stage-specific manner. Several vital plasmodial proteins were efficiently destroyed by granzyme B, suggesting proteolytic degradation of these proteins as essential in the lymphocyte-mediated death pathway. Overall, these data establish a granzyme- and granulysin-mediated innate immune mechanism exerted by gamma delta T cells to kill late-stage blood-residing P. falciparum.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available