| First Author | Whibley N | Year | 2014 |
| Journal | Eur J Immunol | Volume | 44 |
| Issue | 4 | Pages | 1069-83 |
| PubMed ID | 24435677 | Mgi Jnum | J:209376 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5567035 | Doi | 10.1002/eji.201343604 |
| Citation | Whibley N, et al. (2014) Expansion of Foxp3(+) T-cell populations by Candida albicans enhances both Th17-cell responses and fungal dissemination after intravenous challenge. Eur J Immunol 44(4):1069-83 |
| abstractText | Candida albicans remains the fungus most frequently associated with nosocomial bloodstream infection. In disseminated candidiasis, the role of Foxp3(+) regulatory T (Treg) cells remains largely unexplored. Our aims were to characterize Foxp3(+) Treg-cell activation in a murine intravenous challenge model of disseminated C. albicans infection, and determine the contribution to disease. Flow cytometric analyses demonstrated that C. albicans infection drove in vivo expansion of a splenic CD4(+) Foxp3(+) population that correlated positively with fungal burden. Depletion from Foxp3(hCD2) reporter mice in vivo confirmed that Foxp3(+) cells exacerbated fungal burden and inflammatory renal disease. The CD4(+) Foxp3(+) population expanded further after in vitro stimulation with C. albicans antigens (Ags), and included at least three cell types. These arose from proliferation of the natural Treg-cell subset, together with conversion of Foxp3(-) cells to the induced Treg-cell form, and to a cell type sharing effector Th17-cell characteristics, expressing ROR-gammat, and secreting IL-17A. The expanded Foxp3(+) T cells inhibited Th1 and Th2 responses, but enhanced Th17-cell responses to C. albicans Ags in vitro, and in vivo depletion confirmed their ability to enhance the Th17-cell response. These data lead to a model for disseminated candidiasis whereby expansion of Foxp3(+) T cells promotes Th17-cell responses that drive pathology. |
