학술논문

Cross-protective TH1 immunity against Aspergillus fumigatusand Candida albicans
Document Type
Article
Source
Blood; June 2011, Vol. 117 Issue: 22 p5881-5891, 11p
Subject
Language
ISSN
00064971; 15280020
Abstract
T cell–mediated heterologous immunity to different pathogens is promising for the development of immunotherapeutic strategies. Aspergillus fumigatusand Candida albicans, the 2 most common fungal pathogens causing severe infections in immunocompromised patients, are controlled by CD4+type 1 helper T (TH1) cells in humans and mice, making induction of fungus-specific CD4+TH1 immunity an appealing strategy for antifungal therapy. We identified an immunogenic epitope of the A fumigatuscell wall glucanase Crf1 that can be presented by 3 common major histocompatibility complex class II alleles and that induces memory CD4+TH1 cells with a diverse T-cell receptor repertoire that is cross-reactive to C albicans. In BALB/c mice, the Crf1 protein also elicits cross-protection against lethal infection with C albicansthat is mediated by the same epitope as in humans. These data illustrate the existence of T cell–based cross-protection for the 2 distantly related clinically relevant fungal pathogens that may foster the development of immunotherapeutic strategies.