B lymphocytes are required during the early priming of CD4+ T cells for clearance of pneumocystis infection in mice

Michael M. Opata, Melissa L. Hollifield, Frances E. Lund, Troy D. Randall, Robert Dunn, Beth A. Garvy, David J. Feola

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

36 Scopus citations

Abstract

B cells play a critical role in the clearance of Pneumocystis. In addition to production of Pneumocystis-specific Abs, B cells are required during the priming phase for CD4+ T cells to expand normally and generate memory. Clearance of Pneumocystis was found to be dependent on Ag specific B cells and on the ability of B cells to secrete Pneumocystis-specific Ab, as mice with B cells defective in these functions or with a restricted BCR were unable to control Pneumocystis infection. Because Pneumocystis-specific antiserum was only able to partially protect B cell-deficient mice from infection, we hypothesized that optimal T cell priming requires fully functional B cells. Using adoptive transfer and B cell depletion strategies, we determined that optimal priming of CD4+ T cells requires B cells during the first 2-3 d of infection and that this was independent of the production of Ab. T cells that were removed from Pneumocystis-infected mice during the priming phase were fully functional and able to clear Pneumocystis infection upon adoptive transfer into Rag1-/- hosts, but this effect was ablated in mice that lacked fully functional B cells. Our results indicate that T cell priming requires a complete environment of Ag presentation and activation signals to become fully functional in this model of Pneumocystis infection.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)611-620
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Immunology
Volume195
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 15 2015

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 by The American Association of Immunologists, Inc.

Funding

FundersFunder number
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Family Blood Pressure ProgramR01HL088989
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Family Blood Pressure Program

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Immunology and Allergy
    • Immunology

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