Journal
CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL IMMUNOLOGY
Volume 119, Issue 3, Pages 507-515Publisher
BLACKWELL SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2249.2000.01150.x
Keywords
Trypanosoma cruzi; B lymphocytes; immunosuppression; apoptosis; cell cycle arrest
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Acute infection with Trypanosoma cruzi is characterized by multiple manifestations of immunosuppression of both cellular and humoral responses. B cells isolated at the acute stage of infection have shown marked impairment in their response to polyclonal activators in vitro. The present work aims at studying the B cell compartment in the context of acute T. cruzi infection to provide evidence for B cell activation, spontaneous apoptosis and arrest of the cell cycle upon mitogenic stimulation as a mechanism underlying B cell hyporesponse. We found that B cells from acutely infected mice, which fail to respond to the mitogen LPS, showed spontaneous proliferation and production of IgM, indicating a high level of B cell activation. Furthermore, these activated B cells also exhibited an increase in Fas expression and apoptosis in cultures without an exogenous stimulus. On the other hand, B cells from early acute and chronic infected mice did not present activation or apoptosis, and were able to respond properly to the mitogen. Upon in vitro stimulation with LPS, B cells from hyporesponder mice failed to progress through the cell cycle (G(0)/G(1) arrest), nor did they increase the levels of apoptosis. These results indicate that B cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest could be the mechanisms that control intense B cell expansion, but at the same time could be delaying the emergence of a specific immune response against the parasite.
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