Cysteine Protease B of Leishmania mexicana Inhibits Host Th1 Responses and Protective Immunity

• Published in: The Journal of immunology (1950) Vol. 171; no. 7; pp. 3711 - 3717
• Main Authors: Buxbaum, Laurence U, Denise, Hubert, Coombs, Graham H, Alexander, James, Mottram, Jeremy C, Scott, Phillip
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Am Assoc Immnol 01.10.2003
• Subjects: Animals; Cathepsin B - deficiency; Cathepsin B - genetics; Cathepsin B - immunology; Cathepsin B - physiology; Cells, Cultured; DNA-Binding Proteins - deficiency; DNA-Binding Proteins - genetics; DNA-Binding Proteins - physiology; Down-Regulation - genetics; Down-Regulation - immunology; Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic - immunology; Immunity, Innate; Interferon-gamma - antagonists & inhibitors; Interferon-gamma - biosynthesis; Interleukin-12 - deficiency; Interleukin-12 - genetics; Interleukin-12 - physiology; Interleukin-12 Subunit p40; Leishmania mexicana - enzymology; Leishmania mexicana - genetics; Leishmania mexicana - immunology; Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous - genetics; Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous - immunology; Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous - parasitology; Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous - prevention & control; Mice; Mice, Inbred C3H; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Knockout; Protein Subunits - deficiency; Protein Subunits - genetics; Protein Subunits - physiology; Protozoan Vaccines - administration & dosage; Protozoan Vaccines - genetics; Protozoan Vaccines - immunology; Signal Transduction - genetics; Signal Transduction - immunology; STAT4 Transcription Factor; Th1 Cells - immunology; Th1 Cells - metabolism; Th1 Cells - parasitology; Trans-Activators - deficiency; Trans-Activators - genetics; Trans-Activators - physiology

C3H mice infected with Leishmania mexicana fail to develop a protective Th1 response, and are unable to cure. In this study, we show that L. mexicana cysteine proteases suppress the antileishmanial immune response. Previous studies demonstrated that deletion of the entire multicopy cysteine protease...