Eur J Immunol. 1994 Dec;24(12):3068-72. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE
Growth of Listeria monocytogenes is mainly controlled by macrophages,
which are activated by specific T cells. A potential role of CD8+ T
cells by direct lysis of infected cells was investigated in
perforin-deficient mice generated by homologous recombination. The
absence of perforin-mediated cytotoxicity resulted in delayed clearance
of Listeria from the spleen but not the liver after primary infection,
overall susceptibility to Listeria however was not increased. Protection
against a secondary infection was drastically impaired in
perforin-deficient mice. Adoptive transfer of immune spleen cells to
recipients revealed that anti-Listeria protection by CD8+ T cells from
perforin-deficient versus normal mice was about 10-fold reduced in
livers and about 100-fold reduced in the spleen of recipients. CD4+ T
cells from immune control and perforin-deficient mice conferred
comparable protection. These results indicate that the protective effect
of CD8+ T cells against an intracellular bacterium mainly evident in
secondary infection is mediated by a perforin-dependent pathway,
presumably cytotoxicity, and less by other direct or indirect effector
mechanisms.
Animal Cytotoxicity, Immunologic CD8-Positive
T-Lymphocytes/*IMMUNOLOGY Dose-Response Relationship, Immunologic
Immunity, Cellular Immunization, Passive Immunologic Memory Listeria
monocytogenes/IMMUNOLOGY Listeria Infections/*IMMUNOLOGY Membrane
Glycoproteins/DEFICIENCY/*PHYSIOLOGY Mice Mice, Inbred C57BL Mice,
Mutant Strains Support, Non-U.S. Gov't JOURNAL ARTICLE