Abrogation of spontaneous liver tolerance during immune response to Candida albicans: contribution of NKT and hepatic mononuclear cells

MARÍA SOL RENNA; FIGUEREDO MAURICIO; RODRIGUEZ GALÁN MARIA CECILIA; PAULA ICELY; JAVIER MARÍA PERALTA RAMOS; CORREA SILVIA GRACIELA; SOTOMAYOR CLAUDIA

OXFORD UNIV PRESS

Año: 2012 vol. 24 p. 315 - 315

Hepatic mononuclear cells (HMC) are a heterogeneous population with innate immune properties involved in the response to several pathogens. Herein, during the primary infection with Candida albicans, we observed dynamic changes in CD31, NK1 and NKT intrahepatic lymphoid subsets and a significant increase in the absolute number of antigen-presenting cells (APC). The liver tolerogenic microenvironment sustained by higher levels of IL-10, transforming growth factor-b and IL-4 was severely modified upon the robust IFN-g production after the fungal colonization. NKT cells purified from infected animals released significant amounts of IFN-gamma and the production of this cytokine was exacerbated after a second contact with the fungus. Interestingly, C. albicans per se was unable to activate tolerogenic NKT cells from naive animals. In vitro experiments performed with HMC cellsdepleted of the CD11b/c1 population revealed that in the absence of APC, NKT cells are unable to produce IF