Antigen-specific CD8(+) T cells and protective immunity to tuberculosis.

Abstract

The continuing HIV/AIDS epidemic and the spread of multi-drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis has led to the perpetuation of the worldwide tuberculosis epidemic. While M. bovis BCG is widely used as a vaccine, it lacks efficacy in preventing pulmonary tuberculosis in adults [1]. To combat this ongoing scourge, vaccine development for tuberculosis is a global priority. Most infected individuals develop long-lived protective immunity, which controls and contains M. tuberculosis in a T cell-dependent manner. An effective T cells response determines whether the infection resolves or develops into clinically evident disease. Consequently, there is great interest in determining which T cells subsets mediate anti-mycobacterial immunity, delineating their effector functions, and evaluating whether vaccination can elicit these T cells subsets and induce protective immunity. CD4(+) T cells are critical for resistance to M. tuberculosis in both humans and rodent models. CD4(+) T cells are required to control the initial infection as well as to prevent recrudescence in both humans and mice [2]. While it is generally accepted that class II MHC-restricted CD4(+) T cells are essential for immunity to tuberculosis, M. tuberculosis infection elicits CD8(+) T cells responses in both people and in experimental animals. CD8(+) T cells are also recruited to the lung during M. tuberculosis infection and are found in the granulomas of infected people. Thus, how CD8(+) T cells contribute to overall immunity to tuberculosis and whether antigens recognized by CD8(+) T cells would enhance the efficacy of vaccine strategies continue to be important questions.

• Authors: Samuel M Behar
• Journal: Advances in experimental medicine and biology (Adv Exp Med Biol) Vol. 783 Pg. 141-63 ( 2013) ISSN: 0065-2598 [Print] United States
• PMID: 23468108 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)

Chemical References

• Antigens, Bacterial
• Bacterial Proteins
• CFP-10 protein, Mycobacterium tuberculosis
• ESAT-6 protein, Mycobacterium tuberculosis
• Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte
• Immunodominant Epitopes
• Tuberculosis Vaccines

Topics

• Animals
• Antigens, Bacterial (immunology)
• Bacterial Proteins (immunology)
• CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes (immunology)
• CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes (immunology)
• Cross-Priming
• Dendritic Cells (immunology)
• Endosomes (immunology, microbiology)
• Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte (immunology)
• Humans
• Immunity, Cellular
• Immunodominant Epitopes (immunology)
• Macrophages (microbiology)
• Mice
• Mice, Mutant Strains
• Mycobacterium tuberculosis (immunology)
• Phagosomes (immunology, microbiology)
• T-Cell Antigen Receptor Specificity
• Tuberculosis (epidemiology, immunology, prevention & control)
• Tuberculosis Vaccines (immunology)