Immunization with cytoplasmic repetitive antigen and flagellar repetitive antigen of Trypanosoma cruzi stimulates a cellular immune response in mice

In previous studies, we demonstrated that CRA and FRA recombinant proteins, used for diagnosis of Chagas' disease, elicited a humoral immune response in susceptible and resistant mice. To understand better the immune response to these proteins, we have evaluated, the cellular immune response in CRA- and in FRA-immunized BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice. A specific cellular lymphoproliferative response was observed in both strains of mice. Spleen cell cultures mainly from CRA-immunized C57BL/6 and FRA-immunized BALB/c mice produced high levels of IFN-gamma, indicating the induction of a Type 1 immune response. Regarding the T cell subsets, CD4(+) T cells were the major source of IFN-gamma in CRA- and FRA-immunized mice. These results suggest that CRA and FRA are important immunogens in inducing a Type 1 immune response and that they may be considered as potential vaccine antigens.